Pokemon Red Vol 1: The Adventure Begins
by T. L. Veselka
Summary: My take on Pokémon, while this is based more on the games (it stars Red Blue Green & Yellow) characters and influences from the manga and anime will show up as well. This is definitely not a story for kids as it can be violent as witnessed in the very first chapter.
1. The Adventure Begins: First Blood

**Ultimate Pokemon: Red Vol 1:**

 **The Adventure Begins**

 **Part 1:**

 **First Blood**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Team Rocket Revealed**

 **Six Years Ago - the Sky Above the Viridian Forest**

The wind roared in Crimson's ears. He knuckles were white from holding tight to his Charizard's back as they rocketed through the chill night air. The cold bit at his fingers and ears, he hadn't expected to be flying tonight. Ahead of them, barely a speck in his night vision goggles, was the criminal Giovanni, fleeing on the back of his Dragonite.

"Charizard, fireball!" Crimson shouted over the roaring of the wind. Crimson lifted his night-vision goggles so he wouldn't get blinded by the blaze. His Charizard roared in response. Crimson could feel the heat growing in Charizard's torso beneath him. There was a scorching blast of light as an enormous ball of flame erupted from his flying pokemon's maw and hurtled toward his fleeing enemy.

Thanks to the light from the fireball he could see Giovanni's Dragonite veer to the left just in time to avoid the blast, it had been so close. Giovanni may have avoided the fireball but likely it had at least scorched the man's expensive clothing. Crimson wished it had done more than that.

Crimson was far from a violent man and he rarely even liked to battle with his pokemon except for practice, but Giovanni and his ilk filled Crimson with rage. Their callous use of pokemon as tools rather than treating them like living beings was unconscionable. They stole pokemon from their loving owners and abused them into obedience and resentment. Just thinking of it was making Crimson tremble in rage.

"Again!" he shouted, his faithful companion knew him well, it already had a fireball ready. A split second after the command Charizard let loose with an even bigger fireball, Crimson had to shield his eyes with his hand. Again the criminal's Dragonite dove to the left. Crimson cursed. "I hope you can hear me, Giovanni! I will hunt you down to the ends of Kanto if you don't let them go! You hear me? I won't stop!"

It was a waste of breath, there was no way the criminal could hear him. Crimson settled for glaring at Giovanni's tiny well-dressed form. The Dragonite dove downward toward the mountainside. Crimson didn't have to say a word, Charizard knew to follow. They had been together twenty years now and little ever needed to be said between them for the two to completely understand each other. Crimson watched as Giovanni and his Dragonite disappeared as they landed in the thick pine forest below.

"Careful, buddy," Crimson shouted, despite the fact the noise from the wind had died down considerably as they slowed to land. The winds rustled his medium-length black hair. "He could be waiting for us!"

Charizard flapped his leathery wings heavily and landed about thirty feet uphill from where Giovanni had disappeared. Crimson slid off his pokemon's back and stretched for a moment. He looked up at the night sky, as if expecting someone else, then trotted forward into the forest, letting his Charizard stay out of his Pokeball, he _was_ expecting trouble after all. He didn't want to put his night vision goggles back on over his brown eyes as they totally destroyed his peripheral vision, and he had a feeling he was going to need it.

His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, he gulped down some air. _Lives are depending on you._ He reminded himself of that fact over and over. It gave him courage. He flexed his hands over and over, an old nervous habit. He didn't even notice he was doing it.

Crimson had experience with dangerous situations, being a pokemon ranger prepared you for that, but never had he gone face to face against a dangerous kidnapper and possible murderer like Giovanni. He could hear Charizard behind him, breaking twigs and breathing heavily as it slid about on the steep rocky slope. He should have probably chosen one of his smaller pokemon to search the forest with him but he couldn't imagine having any other Pokémon at his side during the most terrifying night of his life. _Well_ , _the night I asked Scarlet to marry me may have terrified me more_ , he reminded himself, wiping the sweat off his hands.

"Well, I wasn't expecting it to be _you_ who followed me," Giovanni's bemused voice caused goosebumps to crawl their way up Crimson's spine. The ranger spun to his left, there stood Giovanni. Worse yet, there stood several other members of his accursed criminal organization. Crimson swallowed hard.

"You should know I would never let you leave my sight once you kidnapped Professor Oak, and now you've sunk even lower by kidnapping his granddaughter, a _child_."

"And his assistant," one of the other members of Team Rocket stepped forward. "Don't forget." She had long dark blue hair but a shadow fell across her face and Crimson couldn't make it out.

"You were wrong about me, you know, Crimson," Giovanni smirked arrogantly and looked at the blue-haired woman. "I am not who you think I am. I am not the boss of Team Rocket."

"That honor goes to me," the blue-haired woman declared jabbing a thumb at her suited breast. The moonlight glinted off a string of pearls on her neck when she leaned aggressively forward.

"Meet Madame Boss," another woman, this one with long purple hair, stepped forward, she was dressed in the standard Team Rocket black and red suit, unlike the two leaders, who wore business suits.

"What is the point of all this?" Crimson demanded of the criminals. "Why are you kidnapping all these people?"

"Business," Giovanni said coldly. "That's all it ever is with Team Rocket. Persian, go!" Giovanni shouted before Crimson could reply. The lithe cat-like pokemon leaped out from behind its master where it had been waiting to strike.

Charizard let loose a stream of white-hot fire at the Persian. The smaller more agile pokemon twisted in mid-air and dodged the attack, but at least Charizard had interrupted its headlong charge toward Crimson. Pokemon were never supposed to be trained to attack humans unless you were a police officer it was strictly forbidden. Charizard snorted angrily, a bit of flame shot from his nostrils, he stepped forward aggressively, never letting Persian out of his sight.

"We don't have time for anything that isn't business," Madame Boss looked sternly over at Giovanni. "End this quickly!"

Crimson couldn't believe his ears. They thought a veteran ranger was going to go down quick and easy? Especially one who had acquired all eight gym badges as a trainer, and that was back when most members of the current Elite Four had been gym leaders. Crimson grabbed another Pokeball from his belt.

Giovanni only nodded at his boss and turned back to Crimson, his face hardening, his eyes going flat. "I'm sorry I don't have time to take my time with you, I would have enjoyed toying with you before I destroyed you."

"Bulbasaur, go!" Crimson tossed his Pokeball in the air. In a flash of light, Bulbasaur appeared. While Bulbasaur couldn't run very fast his vine whip made him one of the fastest attacking pokemon of its level. This particular Bulbasaur had only been with him for six months, but it was a quick learner.

The Persian leaped toward Crimson's face. Charizard launched a flamethrower attack, Persian twisted in mid-air just dodging the deadly stream of yellow flame. It was out of luck however as Bulbasaur's vines wrapped around its legs and slammed the Persian to the ground. It mewed in pain as Bulbasaur slammed it into the rocky slope again.

"Nidorina, go!" Giovanni let another Pokeball lose. With a flash, the purple Poison-type pokemon landed on a boulder in front of them. It immediately charged toward Bulbasaur who dropped Persian to face its attacker. Persian immediately got to its feet. Charizard wasn't going to let it get off that easy. A quick small stream of weak red flame shot from its nostrils and hit the Persian in the neck.

With a yowl the cat-like pokemon dashed about, trying to put out its burning fur, there was nothing but pine trees and rocks on the steep slope. Also lots and lots of rocks. Another pokemon came flying from one of Giovanni's pokeballs, a Dugtrio.

Crimson hadn't been planning on a battle tonight when he had gotten dressed. He only had one more pokemon on him, a Spearow. He let it fly free. The flying type dodged a poison sting attack from the Nidorina to dive after Dugtrio's head, its claws extended. Dugtrio dodged by disappearing under the earth. Spearow quickly dove aside, a wise move as a boulder suddenly shot up from the ground and flew right where Spearow had been. Dugtrio emerged from the ground. It was three on three now and Crimson cursed, it was hard to keep track of six constantly moving pieces on the battlefield.

"Finish this!" Madame Boss demanded angrily. The blue-haired woman at her side opened a Pokeball and revealed a slithering poisonous Arbok. Crimson didn't like to admit it to himself but he didn't much care for any snake pokemon. The poisonous purple Arbok raced toward Charizard.

"Watch out, buddy!" Crimson shouted at his best pokemon. Charizard turned his flame toward the snake and it stopped just short of Charizard's feet. It was a standoff as the two pokemon faced each other.

"You're not the only one with backup, Team Rocket!" a young voice suddenly called from upslope.

"Ash, Misty, Gary!" Crimson's heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. He had thought they had followed him, but they had stayed just out of his sight. "Get out of here, these guys are killers!"

"Which is why we can't leave you to fight them alone!" Ash called back, his faithful Pikachu screeching its agreement. Gary and Misty at either side nodded their agreement, pulling out pokeballs. A Fearow and Wartortle joined the charging Pikachu as they joined the fracas. With the appearance of the three teenage trainers, Giovanni pulled out his last three pokemon, a Graveler, a Sandslash, and a Marowak

The battle was a sight to behold, streams of bright orange fire danced in the air above alongside yellow sparks of electricity and pure blue streams of water. The cacophony of pokemon battle cries was enough to freeze your blood in its veins. There was no way this could end well for all of those involved.

"Ash!" Crimson shouted back at his young admirer. "Don't you have a Pidgeot?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded, pulling out a Pokeball. Crimson felt terrible about pulling sixteen-year-olds into a deadly battle but they had left him little choice, besides, several lives hung in the balance.

"See if your Pidgeot can scout around and find where they have hidden Professor Oak and the other captives."

"Right!" Ash let loose his bird pokemon.

"Go find Professor Oak and come back for me," Ash commanded. With a single cry, the flying pokemon took off over the trees.

"Giovanni, we are running out of time!" Madame Boss shouted angrily. "I told you to end this quickly!"

"Fine," Giovanni sighed. "Dragonite, end this!" His dragon pokemon growled its acknowledgment and opened its rounded muzzle. A brilliant white light formed in its mouth, growing larger by the millisecond.

"It's the Roar of Time!" Crimson shouted above the battle. Just then Pidgeot returned, crying triumphantly. "Everyone run!" This move could take down whole buildings with a single blast, Crimson didn't want to find out what it would do to a human. Fearow and Pidgeot dove for their masters, Misty luckily had hung back. Charizard realized there was no escaping the blast for him or his human. He charged.

Charizard slammed into the Dragonite just as it let loose its lethal blast. The blast cut through trees and slammed into the mountainside around them as Dragonites head rocked back and forth with the force of Charizard's blow.

"No, you fool!" Giovanni shouted as the mountainside exploded. Rock and dirt flew into the air obscuring the mountainside as it rumbled. Then it was as if the mountain itself sighed as the ground heaved up then down. Tons of boulders and soil slid down the side of the mountain like water, tumbling down in a deadly avalanche of rock, Dragonite and Charizard disappeared under the roaring rubble, most of the pokemon and humans followed suit.

Above the disaster Ash and Gary were held by their flying pokemon, each of them holding onto one of Misty's arms, a maneuver they had employed on several occasions, Pikachu sat astride Pidgeot. The three trainers watched on in horror as below them Crimson reached upward all too late and disappeared under the heaving earth.

"No!" Ash choked out. Crimson had been his idol. After what seemed like an eternity, but was truly seconds, the rockslide ended. The quickly tiring flying pokemon flew a slow circle over the disaster area. They couldn't spot a single living thing. Ash and Misty wiped away their tears the best they could on their shoulders. Gary was quiet for once.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ash. "Pidgeot, did you find the Professor?" he managed to blubber out after several seconds of fighting his tightening throat. More tears streamed down his cheeks. Ash had never seen someone die before.

Pidgeot cried out in the affirmative and the group slowly turned from the rubble and flew back uphill.

Several minutes passed before there was any movement in the rubble. A single rock shook slightly then finally tumbled aside revealing a sleeved arm and a bloody hand. Several more rocks tumbled aside and a bloodied and dirty Giovanni crawled achingly slow from the rocks. Dragonite had protected him from the worst of it with its own body.

The criminal mastermind glanced about hoping, wishing for a single glance of Madame Boss or even more desperately for a glance on Miyamoto, the blue-haired woman. Nothing. He stood stiffly to his feet. Still nothing. This was impossible. How had a simple Pokemon Ranger take down every leader of Team Rocket in one battle? Giovanni cursed himself. He never should have let Miya come along with them. Madame Boss had insisted she come. He stumbled over boulders and uprooted trees. One of them had to have survived. They had to. He didn't know how he was supposed to go on without either of them in his life.

Desperately he started to roll boulders aside with his bloody, broken hands, leaving crimson streaks in their wake. "Miya! Madame Boss! Miya! Madame Boss!" His voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable as human. There was no answer. He stood still and silent, unmoving waiting achingly for some reply. Then he started shouting again. "Miya! Miya . . ."

He stumbled about the wreckage in his torn and stained suit for nearly another hour. That was when he finally heard something. A low moan. He cried out in surprise but it just came out a choked sound. He stumbled toward the sound.

"Miya?" He asked with desperate hope. He tripped and fell, limply recovered his feet and struggled on. Finally, he found someone alive. Crimson. The ranger lay broken, both his arms covered by rocks but still at such odd angles that they were obviously broken, his nose had bled all over his face. His eyes were blackened.

"You!" Giovanni choked out in shock and anger. He pointed one broken swollen finger at Crimson's nearly swollen shut eyes. The ranger moaned in response, obviously he couldn't speak.

"You had to stick your nose in my business, where it doesn't belong. Team Rocket is my business and you never mess with a man's business!" Giovanni glanced about for a boulder the right size. He saw one and stumbled over to it. He leaned over to pick it up, found his trembling arms unable and rested for a second before continuing his diatribe.

"Even worse than that you messed with my family. Madame Boss was my mother and Miya! Miya . . ." with this Giovanni trailed off and began to sob before shaking his aching head, snapping himself out of it. In his brutalized state he was completely compromised, physically and emotionally.

"Miya was better than you or me could dream of being. A gift to this Earth from God himself. And you killed her! She should have been the one that lived! She has a daughter! You murdered a young girl's mother! Murdered her!" Giovanni was doing his best to shout with his failing voice, but then his voice went flat and cold. "Don't worry though, I'll help you pay recompense."

Giovanni finally hoisted the boulder over his head and made his way unsteadily toward Crimson's broken body, his head the only thing completely uncovered.

"I'll help you pay the price for killing my mother and my Miya!"

Crimson managed to lift a broken and bloody middle finger before Giovanni brought his boulder crashing down. Again and again ne brought the rock down until he was completely exhausted and nothing remained of Crimson's head but a bloody pulp.

Giovanni fell to his knees, completely exhausted and broken. He alternated between weeping and laughing at Crimson's limp corpse for a while until he fell asleep, still on his knees. When he woke one single thought came blaring through his damaged mind.

He would finish what his mother and Miya had started.

Slowly Giovanni rose to his feet, he turned and repeated his purpose over and over again in his head. He would finish what his mother and Miya had started. He would finish what his mother and Miya had started. He would finish what his mother and Miya had started. . .


	2. The Adventure Begins: Casualties of War

_*Author's Note:_ _For those of you who read Chapter One before this came out there was an error (which I have now corrected) it said that Crimson's battle against Giovanni happened ten years ago when in fact it was six years ago, at the same time that Chapter 2 takes place, on the very same night._

 **Chapter Two:**

 **Casualties of War**

 **Six Years Ago - Viridian Forest**

Ochre lifted his ten year old daughter high up into the air and spun her around. She laughed, her giggle sounding to him as the song of fairies making him young and carefree once more. He plopped her down on his shoulders so she was straddling his neck. She was getting a bit big for all this but neither of them wanted to stop. She clasped her hands across his forehead and he trundled down the forest path. These nightly walks were a family tradition.

His wife, Tawny, walked beside them with a bit more grace, shaking her head and smiling ruefully. In her hands she held her husband's Pikachu, he had found the dear thing as a little pichu shivering along under a bush in the forest. Ochre never could leave an innocent creature to fend for itself so he brought it home. They were shocked so many times in those first few hours that Tawny could have sworn she was becoming numb to it. Soon though it realized that it couldn't have found a safer place to be. Ochre had tried to release it back in the wild but the little pichu would always beat them back home and sit waiting for them on the doormat. How could they throw such a loyal creature away?

"You two are so silly," Tawny giggled as her daughter "played drums" on her husband's bald head while her husband pretended to be in intense pain.

"No! No! I _need_ my brain!" Ochre cried in mock terror. Suddenly his face went slack. "Duh! Who am I? Who are you? Why are you on my shoulders?"

"It's me, daddy, it's Yellow!"

"Who's the pretty lady?"

Another giggle. "That's mommy!"

"Then you have one lucky daddy," Ochre raised his eyebrows in a pseudo-seductive manner. He leaned in toward his wife, Tawny. Rolling her eyes she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She tried and failed to hide her smile.

"Ew!" Yellow shrieked ending it with a giggle. Glancing slyly up at her daughter Tawny grinned and kissed Ochre again. "Eeeeeww!"

They kissed again, this time a little more earnestly. "Ooooh what's that?" Ochre could feel Yellow twist on his back to look behind them.

"Nice try, honey, but daddy's still gonna kiss mommy," Ochre chuckled at what he assumed was his daughter's attempt to distract them.

"Pretty . . ." Yellow actually sounded entranced. Tawny opened her eyes mid-kiss, Ochre sighed.

"Okaaay what is it?" Ochre turned around and paused. Brilliant streaks and flashes of color appeared in the night sky, orange then blue.

"Is that fireworks?" his daughter had never seen them.

"I don't think so, honey," Ochre watched some other colors flash, purple then green, a flash of yellow. It definitely wasn't fireworks, there was no design to the chromatic display, no flowery explosion.

"What is it?" This time it was Tawny who asked.

"I'm not sure," Ochre unconsciously began walking in the direction of the colorful display, Tawny followed. It was then that they noticed some sounds. A boom, almost like distant thunder, then the roaring cry of a large animal. A pokemon cry. They stood watching for a moment, Ochre's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Run!" Ochre started turning his wife around, being rougher than usual with his large calloused hands, shoving her.

"Honey, what?" she wasn't moving.

"That's a massive pokemon battle!" Ochre called out. "If they come down here or dislodge a boulder . . ." he didn't need to finish his thought, realization dawned on Tawny's face and she ran. Ochre slung Yellow down from his shoulders and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight.

It was too late.

The thunderous roar of the rocks crashing down the mountain in the landslide deafened their ears. Tawny grasped their pikachu close to her body, copying Ochre's grasp on Yellow. Ochre looked back just in time to see the avalanche of rocks reach the valley floor and bounce towards them.

"I love you!" Ochre cried out to his family just before a large boulder crashed into his head, bringing him down, barely enough life in him to keep his daughter protected in his thick muscled arms. Tawny fell just after him. The family was buried just as the avalanche came to a sudden and deadly conclusion around them. Then, silence. Dust choked the air and obscured the sunlight.

Once the silence had fallen Ochre's bloody and broken body began to move. His arms and back moved loose and unnaturally, most of his bones broken. Ten year old Yellow, a dazed look upon her face, painted by blood streaming down her face from a head wound, emerged slowly and painfully from under the protective custody of her father's arms. She turned to her father's now still body.

"Daddy," she grabbed his shoulder and shook it gently. He didn't move. "Daddy, please I'm scared!" the girl began to cry, tears streaming down her dust caked face, mixing with the blood and grime, covering her worse in her own ichor. She wasn't thinking about her own horrific state, she was completely focused on her father's still form. She shook him harder this time.

"Daddy, please don't play, I'm so scared! Daddy! Daddy!" the girl cried and shook her father for a full minute but he didn't move. "Daddy!"

A small movement caught the corner of her eye. She gasped then turned to her left. "Mommy?"

Her half-buried mother's arm moved awkwardly, once then twice. The girl choked out a cry and started to get up. Pikachu suddenly came crawling out from under her mother's arms. Yellow dropped back onto her bottom and sobbed, then, just as suddenly, she went completely silent. She was relieved to find that at least someone was left alive, she was horrified and brokenhearted that it wasn't her parents.

Pikachu, limping, slowly crawled over to her and crawled into her lap. His cold wet nose touched her bloody scratched arm. It made a purring noise and began licking one of her many small wounds. At first she didn't react but then he rubbed up against her with its head and let out a single lonely cry. He looked her in the eye as if to say " _I lost my family too, I understand. I am right here for you."_

At least, that's what she wanted it to say.

"What are we going to do, Pikachu?" Yellow asked, her voice tremulous. The little yellow rodent mewed again in reply.

 **10 Hours Later**

Pallet Town was quiet, as it was every day. If one but stopped to listen one could hear pidgey calling in the distance and the occasional caterpie cry. Even the usually fierce spearow seemed more at ease when they visited Pallet Town. It moved at a slower place than most towns in the Kanto region.

Usually when Professor Oak returned to Pallet after being away he felt relief at the sight of his hometown, today he felt nothing but dread. He walked with a pause in his step toward his lovely hometown. Trailing behind were Daisy, his granddaughter, and Tracey, his laboratory assistant, he was sure they felt the exact same way.

It couldn't be helped, it had to be done and it was only right they be the ones to do. They had to tell Crimson's widow and son that he had died rescuing them from Team Rocket. Ash, Gary and Misty had continued along their pokemon journey, a great deal more somber than before. The three of them had traveled all night to make it back to Pallet Town in time to make sure Crimson's wife heard the news from them instead of on the television. Reporters had swarmed them the moment they had passed through Viridian City.

Pallet was such a small town it didn't take them long to make their way to Crimson's three bedroom house. The sun shining and the coo of feeding pidgeys belied the way Samuel Oak felt. His hand trembling, he reached up and knocked on the door. A tight knot had formed in his gut and it grew longer with each silent second that passed.

Then the door opened.

Inside stood a pretty woman, just on the cusp of thirty, and a curious young boy of about ten glancing up from behind her. The woman smiled but Professor Oak couldn't bring himself to return it.

"Scarlet, I was wondering if we could come in for a moment to talk?" Professor Oak indicated his two companions with a nod of his head. Daisy managed a weak sad smile. Tracey did not.

"What is it?" concern immediately etched Scarlet's face as she stepped back and let them in. The door opened into the livingroom and the Professor nodded at Tracey and Daisy to sit.

"Scarlet, I am not sure if you are aware of this," Oak swallowed hard, it was so difficult to speak with a giant knot in his stomach and another forming in his esophagus. "I was kidnapped by Team Rocket yesterday, in the morning.

"I had heard something in passing but couldn't believe they had become so brazen," Scarlet looked aghast. "I must admit, out of control trainers like that have always terrified me, that's why I never became a trainer myself. What if something happened and my pokemon attacked someone and injured them or worse."

"About that, Scarlet," Professor, tried to get her back on track. He needed to get it out now or he was afraid he wasn't going to get it out at all.

"Oh, yes, Professor, I am so sorry. You were kidnapped, I didn't mean to ramble on like that. What happened?"

"Well, they wanted me to work on something for them, I never got all the details, I of course refused."

"How did you get away."

"I was rescued. By your husband, Scarlet."

"Really? Then where is Crimson . . ." Upon saying his name realization dawned on Scarlet.

Why else would Professor Oak come to tell her this story.

"No." She shook her head in disbelief, it barely came out as a whisper. "No, no, no. Not my Crimson."

"I'm sorry," Oak managed to choke out before tears stung his eyes and his chin trembled uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry."

"It can't be." Scarlet cried out, suddenly loud. "I always knew this could happen. Playing around with those dangerous pokemon. You encouraged him. You know that, right? If it weren't for you he would never have even been a ranger. This is your fault."

With that sudden realization Scarlet turned her tear-streaked brown eyes on Professor Oak. They were filled in venom.

"This is all _your_ fault!" He grief turned into sudden furious rage. Oak could swear she grew until her presence filled the entire living room, he waved at his two companions to get behind him quickly.

"You killed him, Samuel Oak!" Scarlet was screeching now, jabbing a single pointed finger at his chest. "Crimson's death is on your head! It is your fault! You killed my husband! Get out!" By now she was screaming with the fury of a banshee as her young son began to wail behind her in fright.

Samuel Oak edged toward the door.

"I said leave!" she charged toward him, raising her white-knuckled fists in his direction. Oak opened the door and fled. "And never come back!"

"Daddy!" the boy was crying out loudly. "I want daddy! Where's daddy? Mom? Where's my dad?"

Professor Oak cursed as they fled the house, he fought back the bile that was threatening to come up. He had to make this right somehow. He knew better than to take the words of a new widow to heart but he _had_ been the one to encourage Crimson to become a trainer and even guided him into becoming a ranger as well. That's why her words burned like fire in his brain. She had a point. She was right. This was all his fault. He would make this right, by all the gods that might be out there he would make this right. Somehow.

Back in Crimson's house the widow Scarlet clutched her son, Red, close to her breast. "I'll never let anything happen to you. You hear me, son? I won't let the same thing happen to you, as long as I live."

"Where's daddy, mom?" Red cried, his young mind could not yet accept what it already knew to be true.

*End of Chapter 2

Author's Second Note: I promise there are no deaths in the next chapter, which takes place six years after the events of Chapters 1 and 2


	3. I Choose You!: Red vs Scarlet

_Author's Note:_ This is a really short and fairly dramatic chapter. I promise that the next chapter will be longer and more fun. That is why this chapter exists, it just didn't mingle well with the rest of chapter three, so I made this chapter three and you will get the rest probably next week.

 **Ultimate Pokemon: Red Vol 1:**

 **The Adventure Begins**

 **Part 2:**

 **I Choose You!**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Red vs. Scarlet**

 **Pallet Town - Now**

The alarm had already been blaring for several seconds before it finally got a response from the slumbering form occupying the messy bed. One limp and rose and tried to press down on the pokeball shaped alarm clock only to miss completely. He tried again, with a little more force, and only succeeded in slamming his hand against his bedside stand. Finally the sleeping teenager stirred split open one glossy brown eye and smashed his hand down on his alarm clock, but it didn't silence it. Grimacing, the boy smashed his fist repeatedly against the alarm clock, somewhere in the middle it stopped.

The sixteen year old tossed the clock onto the floor. It began to ring again. He grabbed a baseball bat and ended the threat once and for all. He had to give it to the alarm clock, he was definitely awake now. Red stretched and yawned, he had just been dreaming of battling, in his dream he had a gengar and they had been battling a nidorino in a massive stadium, the whole crowd cheering him on. He had the same dream almost every night. He was obsessed with pokemon. He wanted nothing more in life than to be a trainer. Everything in his room was pokemon related, pokemon posters, pokemon books, pokeball alarm clock, or at least what was left of it.

He picked up the shattered pokeball clock and stared at it for a moment. Soon he would be holding a real pokeball. He was turning sixteen. On everyone's sixteenth birthday they had the choice of furthering their education or getting a pokemon and starting a pokemon journey. The choice wasn't hard for Red.

As long as he could remember he wanted to be a pokemon trainer. His father had been a well known pokemon ranger who had a powerful charizard, Red would follow in his father's footsteps. He was so excited that for months now he had refused to look at a calendar or even know what day of the week it was. He figured that if he didn't know what date it was then time couldn't crawl for him.

That's when it suddenly dawned on him. What if in his silly confusion he had missed the day. There was no way that was possible. He ran to his personal computer and booted it up. While it booted her quickly shed his pajamas and scrambled into his clothes. Finally he heard the familiar tone of the computer finishing its boot process. He ran over to the computer and highlighted the calendar.

It was today.

Red yelped and ran over to his bedside stand and grabbed a stick of deodorant and quickly slid some on in lieu of showering. He grabbed his bag, it was already filled with everything he would need to go on his journey. Except food. Not knowing the date he hadn't packed any food. He blasted out his door with a bang.

He had failed to tie his shoes. He tripped over his laces and stumbled. He then went head over heels down his house stairs. He lay at the bottom of the stairs for a moment trying to mentally assess and make sure nothing was broken. His mom appeared over him, a stern look on her face.

"I told you to make sure you tie your shoes before you come crashing down those stairs." she said in a no-nonsense tone.

Red moaned.

"Are you okay?" She asked after hearing him moan.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Red lifted himself to his feet, a little dazed.

"Your backpack looks so full," his mom noted.

Red flushed. He had known that he would eventually have to tell her he had chosen to be a trainer, despite the fact she had specifically forbid him from doing so. He couldn't believe he had put it off until the very day he was going to go get his starter pokemon. She was going to blow up.

Ever since he could remember she had something against pokemon. She had no respect for trainers and thought them all foolish or evil. "Those idiots will either get themselves killed or someone else will die because of them." That was her favorite phrase. She had written him notes in school so they wouldn't put him in any poke-centric classes. It just made Red want to be a trainer all that much more.

"Well, mom," Red began, his mouth suddenly dry as a bone. His stomach began to tie itself into knots. He still wasn't fully awake and here he was having to rebel against his mother. She may never forgive him. He knew it was a possibility, that she would throw him out and never want to see him again. His throat was constricted.

"What is it, hon?" she asked, true concern beginning to color her voice. "You can tell me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Red tried to back away from her. He needed some space to explain.

"Don't lie to me, Red. I know when something is wrong, I'm your mother."

"It's nothing, really," Red protested.

"If you won't tell me you won't be going anywhere today!"

"It's nothing," Red repeated himself futilely. He knew she wasn't joking, she was more determined than any person Red had ever met. He felt sick. He just wanted to get it over with. Without thinking he just blurted it out. "It's just that I decided a long time ago I was gonna be a trainer just like my dad and there is nothing you can say or do that is going to change my mind. I'm going to get my license and my starter."

His mother's eyes widened. She raised a single bony finger, a sneer maring her normally pretty face. "You! You, will not!" she jabbed the finger at him and screeched, her eyes getting even wider.

"Mom!" Red tried to reason with her. She never listened. "Mom!"

"After everything I taught you? After everything I have told you over these years? After what happened to your father? I swore to you when you were ten that I would never let what happened to your father happen to you!"

"Mom, I'm not-"

"How could you put me through this? Look how much I already worry about you, you are all I have and you want to go gallivanting off in the wild with some pet pokemon? That's what your father did and look what happened to him!"

"Mother!" Red shouted over her finally. His face was deep red and his fists were clenched to his sides, trembling. "As much as you wish I was, I am not my father. No matter how much I wish I was, I am not my father. At least he got to leave this place."

Scarlet gasped at that last comment, her eyes stung with tears in seconds. How could he? "I do not wish you were my husband. I love you Red, I want you to stay home, get an education, become something that doesn't put your life at risk on a daily basis."

"Life puts my life at risk on a daily basis!" Red shouted back. How could she still not see he was determined to go. As always she wasn't listening to a word he was saying, nothing pissed him off more.

"Red, I love you, but if you make this choice," her voice trailed off. She saw his face harden in stubbornness. "I will be ashamed to call you my son."

Red flinched away from her as if he had been physically stung. She almost reached out to him, almost. He stood straight and squared his shoulders. "Then I will be an orphan!" He had had enough. "For I will have no mother and only a father, and he is dead!" He spun on his heel and ran out the front door, slamming it shut behind him.

He sprinted down their short path to the main road of Pallet Town, Red swiped tears from his eyes with his forearms, trying to harden his mouth into a determined line. Nothing was going to stop him from being the best trainer he could be, nothing and no one. He swiped some fresh tears and ran down the main road more determined than ever.

Back at Scarlet's house she stood staring at the closed door in shock. Red had never dared talked so disrespectfully before in all his life. Sure, now that he was sixteen he had the right to leave home on his own, but never had she thought he would choose to do so on the very first day. And never in such a cruel manner.

Big wet tears rolled down her face and onto her light pink apron. It was covered in flour. She had been baking. She wiped her tears away with a napkin that had been hidden in the apron's pocket. She returned to where she had come from before hearing the crash that had been Red falling down the stairs for the umpteenth time.

She opened the door into their kitchen and stared at the mess she had made. All for nothing. Flour and cocoa made a light dusty film across the counters, a big bowl still lined with batter sat filled with other dirty dishes she had messed up in her baking attempts. On the small four person table to the side of the kitchen sat one chocolate cake, waiting to cool so she could coat it with rich buttermilk chocolate.

She walked numbly over to the table and slid a chair out and plonked herself down onto it unceremoniously. She placed her head in her hands and breathed in one long sharp breath. She looked down at the table before her and spotted the specially ordered candles she had placed down when she heard the crash, a red 1 and 6.

At the sight of them she burst into tears and leaned down into the table, her shoulders shaking with the force of her crying. She didn't notice or care that some strands of her hair were sticking to the chocolate frosting she had prepared. She cried out loud with the force only a mother who has lost her child can muster.


	4. I Choose You!: The Pokedex

**Chapter 2:**

 **The Pokedex**

 **Professor Samuel Oak's Lab**

The pre-eminent pokemon scientist in Kanto and here Oak was comforting a confused and frightened Magikarp. The poor thing glanced up at him with wide terrified eyes and splashed sideways in its tank. Oak loved all pokemon but even he had to admit that there was little to love about the dim-witted stare of a Magikarp. Of course, he would never admit that publicly. He was the scientific face of Kanto after all. He couldn't be heard uttering prejudiced statements against any pokemon, even if most people would completely understand.

"Ever since I put up that wall to separate you and the new Krabby you have been upset." Professor Oak often talked to his pokemon. "They're better conversationalists than my lab partners." He would often joke, but it wasn't far from the truth. Pokemon understood far more than humans gave them credit for, and they communicated in ways that anyone but a skilled trainer wouldn't understand. Something as simple as a slow wag of the tail told more than a whole sentence of human words.

"I know you can't understand it right now but it is for your own protection, Magikarp. If I were to remove that wall Krabby would have you in his pincers within seconds and there would be nowhere for you to escape to." He needed to expand his facilities, but that required funding and to get the funding he had to prove to the Elite Trio he was in it for the trainers and Kanto as much as he was in it for the pokemon. Being the leaders of all of Kanto they decided where the country's funds went and they favored trainers and sport more than anything when making their financial decisions.

He rubbed the Magikarp's side and brushed his fingers along the long fin. The Magikarp slowed its splashing to enjoy the affection. Oak chuckled. Then he remembered that he didn't have much time. He had to meet the final round of trainer license applicants. He was looking forward to this batch of trainers most of all. Not only did it include his grandson, Blue, but the group included the trainers who had no sponsors to sign for them to obtain their training license, the most eager.

He pulled out a Pokeball from his lab coat pocket and went to another tank, the Magikarp immediately resumed his frantic splashing. Inside the next tank was a lively young Squirtle with plenty of energy and attitude to boot. Casually Oak tossed the ball at the Squirtle, it leaped from the water and headbutted the ball, just enough to press the button. The Pokeball opened and flashed a bright red.

Oak snatched it from the air before it could fall in the water, pokeballs filled with a water pokemon tended to sink. He carried the Pokeball over to a long display case where two other pokeballs were already resting and placed it next to them. Normally he wasn't this pleased with himself when the last group of the month came. He had plans for these four. He placed the display case on a table cart and pushed it out of his sanctuary room and toward his main lab. As soon as he pushed through the swinging doors he knew at least two of the license applicants had arrived, and which two they were.

"Who died and made you king? I got here first, I should have the first pick of the starters!" came an annoyed voice, that had to be Red.

"He's my grandfather, and besides all of Pallet Town knows you don't know squat about pokemon, since your mother is crazy and everything," that was, unfortunately, his grandson, Blue.

"How dare you!" Red started.

"Boys!" Oak interrupted before things got any worse.

"Grandfather!"

"Professor!"

The two boys scrambled to attention then bowed quickly in his direction. Oak smiled, they really were good boys after all.

"I get to go first!" Blue stated immediately. Oak frowned.

"No, I got here first!"

"Prove it!"

"Boys!" Oak interrupted again. "It is a moot point at this current moment in time, we are still waiting for two other applicants."

"Huh?" the two boys stopped arguing for once and gave him back their attention. "Who else is coming?"

"For being such a small town you two don't seem to know very many people," said a new voice as the main doors slid shut behind her. "The name is Green," said a pretty girl with dark hair as she walked into view. "I know who you two are."

Blue and Red looked at each other in confusion. How come they didn't know her and she claimed to know them?

"You're Red," Green pointed a finger at Crimson's son. "And you are famous for having a crazy mother."

Blue laughed.

"You're Blue," Green shifted her gaze to Oak's grandson. "You are famous for being a complete jerk." It was Red's turn to laugh.

"You can close those astounded mouths, boys, you don't know me because I live a little out of town and was homeschooled all my life. I know who you are because I make it my business to know."

Oak smirked, he was impressed. She hadn't been in the room more than a minute and she already had Blue off his game, not an easy feat for a sixteen-year-old girl. Blue rarely was caught off guard. She was perfect for what he hoped to get from them. The only one he had his doubts about had yet to arrive.

No sooner did he have that thought and she came walking timidly through the doorway, the hiss of his automatic doors announcing her arrival.

"Who's she?" Red asked. He seemed to be genuinely curious.

"Her name is Yellow," Oak told them. He knew the shy girl hated to be the center of attention and wouldn't mind him intervening. While he had some serious doubts about her ability to keep up with the other three, like Red, he had something to make up to her, though she was unaware of it herself.

He analyzed the group one last time to reassure himself that he was making the right decision. First, there was his grandson, Blue, who was a natural born leader and pokemon trainer, he would likely go far someday, especially if he ever got his own ego out of his way. Then there was Red, a sheltered and slightly awkward young man but a greater passion for pokemon Oak had never seen. Green was a sarcastic almost amoral young lady with a quirky charisma and a clever way of thinking. Yellow, while timid and uncertain she was a natural with any and all pokemon and empathetic to her peers. If they could ever get along and form a cohesive team there would be no stopping these four young trainers. As Red and Blue began to argue once more Oak doubted that day would ever come.

"Now that you are all here," Oak stated, perhaps louder than necessary. "You all know that you must have a sponsor to become a licensed pokemon trainer. As you also know, none of you, except Blue, have sponsors." Red, Green, and Yellow bowed their heads in a moment of despair.

"Since I know all of you would actually make excellent pokemon trainers, given the chance, I am willing to sponsor each of you. That is _if_ you are willing to do something for me in return."

"Anything!" Red immediately blurted out. Oak knew that his mother, Scarlet, would never sponsor her son. He also knew she would be absolutely furious once she figured out who had sponsored her child. Oak didn't care. The scientist grinned widely.

"Good!" Professor Oak stuck his hands into his pockets and pulled out four shiny red devices. They looked a lot like a cellular phone. "These are a brand new invention! A project I have been working on with my fellow scientist, Bill."

"What's it do?" Blue rudely interrupted.

"It records all the data of every pokemon that you catch, it even will record limited information from pokemon you simply take a picture of video of as well. It already has a limited database on all one-hundred and forty known pokemon."

"What are we supposed to do with it?" Blue interrupted again.

Professor Oak tried hard not to show his frustration. "As I said, it has a limited database, I want each of you to try and catch all one-hundred and forty known Kanto pokemon and finish the database of the Pokedex!"

"You want us to catch all one-hundred and forty types of pokemon?" Yellow asked, sounding overwhelmed already.

"It has been my dream since I was a boy to catalog, in detail, all Kanto pokemon into one database for young trainers to use on their journeys. I am asking the four of you to help me finally realize that dream. Now that I have to technology to do so I am too old and slow and there is no possible way I could do this on my own. Will you all do this for me? Will you help me fulfill my lifelong dream and fill the Pokedex?"

Blue sighed. "Sure, whatever, gramps," the teenager grabbed one of the pokedexes from his hands.

"It would be an honor!" Red bowed as Oak smiled and handed him a Pokedex. Green repeated the same phrase, Oak didn't believe it but he still believed in Green. Yellow swallowed and took hers with a trembling hand.

"Can we choose our pokemon now?" Blue demanded as soon as Yellow had her Pokedex in hand.

"Come along," Oak motioned them over to the table cart where the three pokeballs sat in the display case. The three trainers looked around nervously, obviously noting that there were only three pokeballs but there were four potential trainers.

"Before you become overly worried, one of you already has a pokemon." Oak turned and looked directly at Yellow. A Pikachu, which she had been hiding behind her back, under her shirt, popped its head out to look at him in surprise. "Normally I am required to demand that you use a starter Pokemon like other trainers but seeing as I know how inseparable you two are I have decided I will let you keep your Pikachu in lieu of getting a new starter pokemon. Do you agree with my decision, Yellow?"

The teen's eyes filled up with tears and she merely nodded. Oak guessed she probably couldn't have gotten a word out without crying. His little secret.

"Now," he turned to the other three trainers. "Since I happen to know that Red arrived here first he will get to pick his pokemon first." Blue made a face but Red's eyes lit up in delight. Oak allowed himself another small smile.

"Go ahead, Red." Oak stepped aside allowing Red full access to the display case. The sixteen-year-old nearly tripped as he raced up to the pokeballs. He picked up the first one and stared at it.

"That is Squirtle, a water type pokemon, strong against fire types and weak against grass types. That particular Squirtle is very energetic and has a rebellious streak. It will be hard for anyone to train but once you bond with it I think it will have a lot to offer a strong trainer." Red placed the Pokeball down and moved on to the next one.

"That is a Bulbasaur, a grass type. It is strong against water types and weak against fire types. This Bulbasaur is very tough and can really take a beating, it doesn't know when to back down but it has a hard time thinking for itself and would benefit from a strong leader for a pokemon trainer." Red held the Pokeball longer than he had the last but eventually put it back down and moved to the last one.

That one is a Charmander, a fire type. He is weak against water types and strong against grass types. Charmander has a temper and while very strong his temper can get the best of him and he makes terrible decisions and makes himself vulnerable. He would benefit from a trainer that can help him reign in his temperament and help him stay calm and collected under pressure."

Oak realized, if he were honest with himself, he had no clue which pokemon would be best for Crimson's son. The boy wasn't really a strong enough trainer for Squirtle, he wasn't confident enough for Bulbasaur and he wasn't calm and collected enough for Charmander. He should have thought this part out more thoroughly when selecting the starters for this group. He was sure any son of Crimson would do alright with whichever he chose.

Red smiled and held out Charmander's Pokeball out for all to see. "I choose Charmander as my dad did!"

"Are you sure that's what you want, Red? Which pokemon your father had shouldn't be your only motivation for choosing your starter, you should feel a connection. It's like choosing a best friend and a business partner all in one!"

Red smirked. "My father named me Red to remind me of the fires of my dreams to make them burn as bright as the fire of his Charizard, just like he did. I feel a connection, Professor, a connection to all fire type pokemon, I always knew I would choose Charmander. I promised myself I would at least look at the others but I always knew it would be Charmander."

"Puh-lease!" Blue groaned. Oak shot him a stern side-eye. Blue rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut.

Red pushed the button on Charmander's Pokeball. There was the usual bright flash of light and Charmander appeared. His little tail burned bright red and orange at the end and he cooed curiously.

"Come here, buddy!" Red opened his arms and smiled wide. "We are going to have the best time together, you and me!" The Charmander may have been fiery tempered but it was also quick to love, it ran into Red's arms. The teenager laughed and held his orange colored lizard pokemon tight in his arms. Happy smoke from Charmander's open mouth drifted into Red's nose and mouth. The boy coughed. Blue laughed.

"Since Blue was next to arrive he should choose his Pokemon, now," Oak motioned to the two remaining Pokeballs.

Without hesitation, Blue ran up to the display case and grabbed Squirtle into his fist. Without a word, he unleashed his water type pokemon which fell into his arms. The little blue turtle nuzzled him on the chin and Blue uncharacteristically laughed openly, not sardonically. Oak looked over at Green.

"It seems you get the Bulbasaur," Oak motioned to the sole remaining Pokeball. Green looked relieved.

"I can believe no one picked you!" Green gasped as she pulled up the Pokeball. She grinned bigger than Oak had ever seen her smile. She smiled often, but it rarely reached her eyes. It did this time though.

She let loose her Bulbasaur from its Pokeball. She knelt down and it waddled into her lap with happy little grunts and grinning eyes. It was one of the most adorable, heart-warming things Oak had ever seen. He just sat for a moment and watched as the four trainers bonded with their first Pokemon for the first time ever. It truly was a special thing. One of the greatest privileges of his position as the Elite Four's representative of Pallet Town.

"Hey!" Blue suddenly stopped loving up on his starter Pokemon. "Wait a minute, where are our licenses?" Everyone else joined him in stopping their bonding session.

"Don't worry, they are actually built into your Pokedex," Oak revealed. I hadn't decided to sponsor you until recently so your other badges are running late. I will have my assistant Tracey deliver them to you all once they arrive."

"I can't believe I am going on my pokemon journey!" Red exclaimed suddenly and loudly.

The other three laughed and Oak chuckled. "Before you all scatter to the four winds, may I remind you how dangerous it is out there? You should all stick together, at least until you get to Viridian City where the paths are more populated and well maintained."

"Sure gramps," Blue muttered rolling his eyes and putting his Squirtle immediately back into its Pokeball. "Smell ya later."

"One more thing!" Oak called out, Green had also started to get up. "You are definitely going to need some of these!" The scientist held up packs of potions and pokeballs for the new trainers to see. They each grabbed one each before excitedly exiting out the front door to begin their journey. Most of them even said thanks.


	5. I Choose You!: New Beginnings

**Chapter 3:**

 **New Beginnings**

 **Professor Samuel Oak's Lab**

It was dusk before Oak's laboratory began to shut down for the night. The paranoid magikarp was finally calmed enough to sleep, it still splashed about. Professor Oak used a mop to sop up the watery mess the pokemon had made. His lab assistants, Tracey Sketchit, a brilliant pokemon artist that was studying to make his own biological pokedex with more scientific sketches than any other guide before it, and Daisy Oak, his granddaughter and much more like him than her brother, Gary or her cousin Blue.

Tracey was in the nursery, cleaning up after the young pokemon residing there, most of his duties resided there. Daisy should have been in the front office, turning off lights and putting away whatever files that had been left out over the course of the day. It had been a busy one with new young trainers coming in with their sponsors to get their first pokemon. Then his own grandson along with several other local children that he had a special interest in had come and he had put his own name on the line sponsoring the unsponsored so that they would fill out Bill and his latest invention, the Pokedex.

It was obvious to everyone why he would sponsor his grandson, who had already studied in Johto where the age limit to trainership was only 14 years old. They had more annual fatalities of new trainers than Kanto but it remained an unpopular idea in that region to raise the age limit.

Some people, those aware of the full story of the fateful events six years ago, understood why he sponsored Red. Yellow, on the other hand, was a complete mystery to everyone but he and his lab assistants. Not two days after Crimson had rescued him, Oak, along with his two lab assistants, had found a dirty trembling ten-year-old girl alone in the Viridian Forest with no one to watch over her but an overprotective pikachu. When she had told them the story of how she had come upon this sad state it didn't take Oak but seconds to connect her loss to his own. He owed her this.

Green, well, her parents were known about the town as the party animals. Her father a businessman that often traveled to Viridian City and stayed away for a week at a time, whenever he was home he was determined to enjoy himself. Her mother, a woman that had become a mother far too early in life, was more interested in being friends with Green's older sisters Olive and Jade than being a mother. Oak's parents had actually been quite similar to hers. He had, at one time, a bad reputation to overcome, just like Green. He was determined to give her the chance that her parents never would.

Oak glanced up to see if Daisy was done with her duties, but was surprised he couldn't see her from his vantage point. There were few places in the front office that weren't visible from his aquarium room. He quickly finished mopping up the water and stuffed the mop and bucket into the janitorial closet. He went through the glass door into the front office only to find it completely empty. Where was Daisy?

"You!" a sudden angry voice boomed at him from the entrance. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled with electric surprise. It was Scarlet.

"Well, hello, Scarlet," Oak tried to force a smile, he hoped he was successful. The furious look on her face told him that it didn't matter.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I thought last time we spoke I was very clear that you were to stay away from me and my son!"

"He came here," Oak stated, his voice still calm despite Scarlet's voice raising several decibels with every word she spoke.

"You should have turned him away."

"He is old enough to make his own decisions now, legally," Oak countered. He clenched his fists. Scarlet was just inches from his face, huffing and puffing angrily. He reminded himself of just how much she had lost so that he could be saved from Team Rocket. It was this thought that kept him calm and cool in voice.

"Haven't you already done enough damage to me and my family? I know you must have sponsored my son, no one else would."

"Because you have kept him ignorant and sheltered from the one thing that he loves the most in all the world, pokemon."

"He loves his family most in all the world!" Scarlet shrieked, jabbing a finger in Oak's face, a vein popping up on her forehead.

"Including his father,"Oak reminded her. "Who was a pokemon ranger that loved pokemon just as your son does."

"How dare you!" Scarlet was losing emotional control. Even as she screamed at the scientist tears welled up in her dark eyes and her voice cracked. "How dare you bring up my husband to try and justify your actions."

"Scarlet, Red is his father's son and grows more so every day, not including Crimson in this conversation would be the injustice. Surely you understand that your son made his own decision, the decision he has been aching to make since I have known him."

"He is just a boy, he has no idea what he wants!"

"Legally he is a man now," Oak reminded her. He could hear the irritation start creeping into his voice. He was trying to be patient for respect for all that she had lost and respect for Crimson's love for her.

"You think you can just make this decision for my son? What give you the right to go against a mother's wishes and place her son in mortal danger?"

"It's what Crimson would have wanted," Oak finally said, tired of her screeching voice and emotional arguments.

Scarlet shrunk back as if she had been slapped. Her eyes, full of tears and anger, regarded him as if she had never met him before, a look of growing disgust and pain on her face. Oak himself wanted to be sick. He didn't like pulling out that emotional card on the woman but she had no right to destroy her son's future because of her own emotional issues. Red had wanted to be a pokemon trainer since he could speak. Oak had known him since a week after the boy's birth. He knew what he was talking about. Ever since her husband had died Scarlet had done her damndest to squash her son's love of pokemon. It was a fool's errand, she had failed miserably.

"You are a worse man than I had assumed, _Professor Oak_ ," Scarlet spat his name out as if it were toxic. She spun on her heels and stalked angrily out the front door. The second it closed Oak locked the door behind her and sighed heavily.

"Oh, Sam," came another woman's voice. "Don't listen to her. You are a saint to that boy right now."

"Deliah," Oak didn't have to force this smile. "So kind of you to say."

"It's true too," Deliah smiled kindly at him. She was the mother of his protege, Ash, who had been instrumental in rescuing him from Team Rocket.

Ever since her son had left on his pokemon journey the pair had become fast friends. She was the same age as his daughter but he saw her more as a colleague. Like Scarlet she too had lost her husband and suffered much in her younger years. The difference between the two was a decade of experience and a positive attitude.

"How much of that did you hear?" he blushed with shame, he hated using that emotional trick on Scarlet and even more he hated to have someone he respected see him do it. "Not much I hope."

"Enough," Deliah's eyes became sad. "Poor Scarlet has been living in fear ever since she lost her husband."

"Yeah," Oak agreed lamely.

"Be patient with her, Sam," Deliah put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Meanwhile, I'll work on her. We'll get her turned around in no time."

"Do you really think that is possible?"

"You have no idea how devastated I initially was when Ash left," Deliah smirked at him and squeezed his shoulder. "If I hadn't had you I don't know what I would have done with myself."

"How did she get in here anyway?" Oak asked. "Daisy should have locked the door before then. Where is Daisy, anyhow?"

"Right here, grandpa," Daisy declared walking in from the bathrooms. His grandaughter had grown into a beautiful smart young woman and Oak couldn't have been prouder. "I'm sorry, Deliah showed up so I let her in and I forgot to lock the door behind her."

"Not to worry," Oak smiled at his thoughtful granddaughter. She knew that he and Deliah were good friends, they often had dinner together.

"Why don't we go help Tracey finish up his chores so we can all leave together? It has gotten late."

"You bet," Daisy grinned at Deliah. "You'll have three trainers with you to get you home safe, Mrs. K."

"Has anyone ever told you what a thoughtful young woman you are, Daisy?" Deliah smiled as they headed back toward the nursery.

 **Hours Ago, Just outside Pallet Town**

The four new trainers gathered at the official exit to Pallet Town. The hills and forested areas beyond their small town loomed before them. Red knew they should start traveling as soon as possible so they could make it to Viridian City before night fell. Travelling was dangerous enough even for those that had a pokemon for protection but for brand new trainers it was an exceptionally dangerous. Their pokemon were inexperienced and would struggle to protect them against even the most benign pokemon like pidgey or rattata.

Red had been wishing and hoping for this moment ever since he could remember but now that it had arrived his guts were starting to twist into all sorts of complicated knots. As he stared at the tree-lined trail his palms began to sweat and his mouth went dry. He looked to see if any of the other trainers were feeling the same way he was.

Yellow looked almost bored as she waited for them to gather up their courage. Blue didn't seem impressed either, of course. That arrogant jerk cared more about looking good in front of others than he did his own pokemon. Red didn't care what Blue was thinking or feeling. Green on the other hand looked just as nervous as Red felt. Her face was pinched and her skin tone had a hint of green to it.

"Come on, Red, quit being such a nervous nelly, we're all waiting on you," Blue snarked. "I wouldn't even be travelling with you losers if I hadn't heard there have been nidoran sightings along Route One. My squirtle is pretty awesome but if we run into a nest of them even we wouldn't be able to stand up to them."

Yellow rolled her eyes, Green just seemed to be glad no one was paying attention to her own nervousness. Red wished that they didn't have to travel together, but only an idiot would travel the Routes with just a brand new starter pokemon. Once he had captured a couple pokemon he would travel alone. He didn't mind the two girls but he couldn't wait to get way from Blue, he reminded Red of everything that was wrong with his life in Pallet Town, well other than his mother.

"I'm not waiting for this loser anymore," Blue smirked at Red and started forward. "Let's go, ladies." Nervously Green followed him, Yellow hesitated and then motioned Red to follow before jogging after the other two trainers.

Red knew that once he left Pallet Town there was no going back, his mother and him wouldn't speak . . . wouldn't even be family anymore. He had no more excuses, he had to stand on his own. He had to be a man now, like his father was. He gulped. His father was a local hero and an amazing ranger, Red still got letters from his father's old co-workers that talked of their amazing memories of him.

How could he live up to that?

There was no way he could, but he did know one thing. Ever since he could remember he had wanted to be a pokemon trainer, and now he finally had his chance. Now was his time, time for him to step up and prove his mom wrong. He wasn't going to fail, he may never live up to his father's legacy but he was going to be a good trainer. He had to. It was in his blood. Red's mouth went into a firm thin line and he walked across the town limits.

At first he walked hesitantly as if he expected something to happen immediately after walking onto the trail. Nothing did.

"Ha! Look at that coward!" Blue shouted from a couple hundred feet ahead of Red on the path. Red clenched his fists. He was so sick of Blue's bullying. "Just do yourself a favor, Red, and run home to your mommy."

Green actually giggled slightly at that. Yellow shot Blue a dirty look and started to walk toward Red. "You are such a jerk."

"Oh my god! Is this your first time outside of the town limits?" Blue asked him with a sneer on his face. He laughed loudly as the blood rushed to Red's face. "It is, isn't it? How do you think you are going to be a pokemon trainer?"

"I'll show you, how!" Red finally burst out, tears stinging his eyes. Blues insults hurt because deep down Red knew they were true. "Battle me!"

"Battle you?" Blue laughed. "I've already had all the laughs I can take today, besides you wouldn't be worth my time." Blue turned, waved and started walking away, Green followed behind him.

"Get back here and battle me!" Red demanded, his voice choked. Yellow reached Red's side and grasped his shoulder.

"Don't listen to him," Yellow said. "He's just trying to hurt you because he feels threatened by you."

"No he isn't," Red choked back a sob. "He says it because he thinks it's true. But I'm going to prove him wrong. You hear that, Blue! You're wrong about me and I am going to prove it!"

"Yeah," Yellow smiled. They both heard the bushes next to them rustle. They looked at each other and rushed forward to join their prickly traveling companions.


	6. I Choose You!: First Catch of the Day

**Chapter 4:**

 **First Catch of the Day**

 **Route One**

The four new trainers hadn't been traveling together long and already there was a sullen silence settling over them. Red blamed it on Blue. Ever since Blue had been such a jerk to him no one had known what to say. It was awkward.

"Pikachu!" Yellow suddenly yelled, pulling out her Pokeball. "Come on out and join me on my journey!" With a flash of brilliant light, Pikachu appeared on the ground before Yellow. There was a small kick when the Pokeball expelled a pokemon, the first time Yellow had used her Pokeball on Pikachu she had nearly dropped it, unprepared.

Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked around. "What are you calling out Pikachu for? I don't see any pokemon around."

"Pikachu doesn't like being in his Pokeball," Yellow told Blue as Pikachu leaped into her waiting arms. The pokemon rubbed the top of its head against Yellow's chin. Yellow grinned and scratched him behind his long ears.

"Told you that himself, did he?" Green asked snidely.

"He doesn't have to talk for me to understand him," Yellow answered and then rubbed noses with her yellow-furred companion. "Isn't that right, Pikachu?" The Pikachu squeaked happily in reply. He scurried out of Yellow's arms and up onto her shoulder.

"You just let him out of his Pokeball all day long?" Red asked.

"That's weird." Green proclaimed.

"That's cool," Red countered. "Charmander! Come on out!" There was a flash and his orange lizard pokemon appeared. The pokemon stretched then blew a bit of flame from his mouth. It ran up to Red and cooed. Red laughed and rubbed its head. It cooed again and rubbed up against his leg with its side.

Red was surprised by how warm the pokemon felt against him. He felt dumb for not having realized that of course, it was hot to the touch, after all, it was a fire pokemon. Of course, he had never been close to any type of fire pokemon since his father's death and his memories of that time were slowly fading.

"Red, you're such a follower, just because Yellow lets her pokemon out of her Pokeball doesn't mean you have to. Have a spine. All you ever do is copy others."

Red flushed angrily and tightened his fists but he kept himself under control, just barely. "Pikachu seems happy outside his Pokeball and Charmander seems to like it. I think it's cool so I made the choice to make my Charmander happy. You probably don't care about how your pokemon feel, but I do."

"I'm not a trainer to be friends with my pokemon, Red," Blue snorted. "I am going to be the best of the best. I am going to be a Pokemon Master and someday a Gym Leader and eventually one of the Elite Four!"

"Wow, such a humble guy," Red rolled his eyes at his rival.

"Humility is for people who can't win. It's a weakness and a waste of time, all that matter are results. You either win a battle or you don't. It doesn't matter if you are friends with your pokemon if you can't win a battle. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you Red? You don't know anything about pokemon or about winning."

Red turned crimson from anger but Yellow put a calming hand on his arm and shook her head at him.

"He's just trying to bait you. He's a bully and you know it."

"I do too know about winning!" Red shouted. "I won the mile race at school!"

"That's because I called out sick that day! You have never won anything against me, Red. That's because I'm better than you in every single way. You could never win against me, especially if it has to do with pokemon!"

"I bet I will. Battle me!" Red shouted.

"My Squirtle and would like an actual challenge," Blue snorted. "We would wipe the floor with you and your Charmander. I know so much more than you and I even have the type advantage. Don't you know anything about battling?"

Red was almost ready to explode. His veins bulged and all his muscles were tensing, ready for action. "I bet I can catch a pokemon before you do!"

"Fine."

"What?"

"If you win and catch a pokemon before me then I will concede that you know something about battling, but if you lose. You have to put your Charmander back in its Pokeball for the rest of the day except to catch pokemon or battle."

Red stopped for just a second. He hadn't been thinking when he had blurted that out. Blue was kind of right, Blue, grandson of world-famous pokemon scientist Professor Oak, knew way more about pokemon than he did. After all, his mother had refused to let him even come near any ever since his father had died.

Blue smirked at him. "Deal!" They shook on it, glaring fiercely into each other's eyes, looking for weaknesses.

"Red, are you sure you want to do this?" Yellow asked timidly.

"How come I don't know you?" Blue asked Yellow bluntly as she fed Pikachu a treat from her hand. "I know everyone in Pallet Town."

"That's because I don't live in town," Yellow told him.

"Gramps isn't supposed to license trainers outside of his jurisdiction! What do you think you are doing?"

"I live in the woods, outside of town," Yellow defended. "Your grandfather knows where I live."

"Whatever," Green rolled her eyes. "You do not, live in the woods, that would be way too dangerous for a single family to live out there on their own. What do you do about wild pokemon?"

"Pikachu takes care of them for me," Yellow shrugged.

"You're such a liar," Green sniped.

Yellow looked hurt. Red flushed in anger. "Don't listen to her," he told Yellow. "She's always like this."

"What do _you_ know?" Green spat.

"We've been in the same grade since kindergarten," Red retorted. Pallet Town was a small enough town that there was really only around fifteen students in each grade at their K-12 school.

"So?"

"I'm not blind," Red told her. "You always argue with people. You even argue with the teachers."

"You don't know anything about me. Besides, at least I wasn't a goody-two-shoes, always sucking up to everybody." Green stomped away to join Blue about twenty feet ahead of them.

"Great," Red intoned. "We haven't even been traveling an hour and we already have split into cliques."

"Yeah, the geeks and the jerks," Yellow supplied. Red laughed and Yellow giggled in response.

"You talking about me behind my back?" Green shouted back at them.

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Suddenly Red stopped. "Hey! What happened to Blue and Green?"

The pair had disappeared from the trail ahead of them. Sweat immediately sprung up on Red's head in alarm. He rushed forward to where he had seen them last. Luckily for him, the trail was still moist from an early morning shower and he spotted their tracks. They had suddenly veered left. Yellow caught up and spotted the footprints even quicker than he had. Maybe she really did live in the woods.

The two nodded at each other and followed the tracks into the tall grass and trees that stretched out in rolling hills of green. Their trail wasn't hard to follow as they had broken the six-foot-high stalks of grass that had grown higher than usual this year. The grass made an almost hissing sound as they pushed it aside to avoid its rough stalks from smacking them repeatedly across their faces.

Suddenly Green stood before them, a finger held to her lips, her eyes glaring. Red and Yellow stopped in their tracks and peered at each other curiously. Green turned and began retracing her steps deeper into the tall grass. Taking care to remain as quiet as possible Red followed her, he couldn't even hear Yellow creeping along behind. She was quieter than he or even his Charmander.

Ahead, Green abruptly shrunk down, Red followed suit. He could see just beyond her crouched Blue, Pokeball in hand. His rival was ignoring them and staring at something in a small clearing just past Blue.

"Squirtle, go!" Blue sprang to his feet. Green was quick to join him in standing. Red and Yellow both crowded behind both of them. Pikachu perched himself on Yellow's head for a view and Charmander squeezed in between Red's legs, causing the trainer to giggle. Blue's determined looking Squirtle faced off against a large purple Rattata.

The rat-like pokemon hissed and bared it's large front teeth. They were deceptively buck-toothed but Red knew those fangs were, in reality, razor sharp. Its short fur stood on end as it circled, trying to get a good angle to attack Blue's turtle pokemon. It leaped aggressively, claws stretched toward its adversary. Squirtle dodged to the side and spun around, just in time for Rattata to lunge again.

"Bubble Beam!" Blue shouted.

Responding quickly to his trainer's command Squirtle spewed out a stream of strange hard sticky bubbles. Already in mid-leap Rattata had no chance to dodge Squirtle's counterattack. The Bubble Beam slammed into the smaller pokemon and knocked it backward with a squeak. The Rattata landed heavily but regained its feet in an instant. Red could see that clumps of bubbles still clung to the Rattata's legs and neck. He wasn't sure of the science behind it but he knew that the bubbles were somehow slowing Squirtle's opponent.

"Well done, Squirtle," Blue commended his pokemon. Squirtle's large tail wagged a little. "That was a direct hit! Watch out!"

Hoping to catch the turtle pokemon off guard while it listened to its trainer the Rattata had lunged once more. Squirtle barely dropped backward in time to avoid its gnashing teeth. The Rattata landed, spun on its hind legs and lunged once more at Squirtle. Too fast for his opponent, the Rattata scratched the turtle pokemon on the cheek. Triple scarlet gashes opened up. Squirtle cried out.

"Squirtle! Get in your shell!" Blue shouted urgently. Squirtle withdrew its limbs and head from view. The frustrated Rattata scratched futilely at Squirtle's hard shell. "Now, Squirtle, water gun!" Anticipating the attack the Rattata tried to leap aside, but it was too late. A powerful stream of water shot from Squirtle's shell. With another pain-filled squeak, Rattata tumbled backward through the air and landed end over end several feet away, soaking wet.

Rattata struggled to its feet and shook itself. Droplets flew everywhere, the one bright spot for the Rattata was that the water gun had cleaned off the bubbles from the bubble beam that had been slowing it down. It glared at Squirtle and showed its needle-like teeth on the side of its mouth.

"Enough!" Blue shouted out and flung a Pokeball directly at Rattata. The Pokeball bounced off the pokemon's head and flashed brilliantly. Rattata disappeared inside the Pokeball, which shook as the pokemon struggled to break free.

The four trainers watched with bated breath, if he was successful then Blue would win the bet and Red would have to put his Charmander back in its ball for the rest of the day except to battle. The capture button on the Pokeball flashed faster and faster than one last time and the Pokeball went still. A small _ping_ came from the Pokeball as the capture button lit up brighter than ever and then went dark.

"Yes! I win the bet! Not that I had any doubts about winning, none of you noobs had a chance."

"Hey!" Green shouted angrily. Her eyes went wide and she yanked her Pokeball from her belt and opened it. "Bulbasaur, go!" Everyone watched as the light arced and transformed into Bulbasaur right next to a curious Rattata who had come investigating the racket they had been making.

The Rattata squeaked as it jumped away from Green's Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur instinctively engaged with the pokemon. His vines lashed out toward the little purple pokemon. One succeeded in wrapping itself around the Rattata, who bit it in retaliation. Bulbasaur flinched and released the rat-like pokemon but not before flinging it upward into the air.

"Now, hit him with solar beam!" Green's voice squeaked in her excitement. The Bulbasaur titled its head at her as the Rattata fell to the ground, bounced and regained its feet. "Don't let it get away!"

Bulbasaur turned and smacked the Rattata with a vine just as it dove into the bushes for cover. The Rattata flew up into the air again with an indignant squeak.

"Do stun spore," Blue directed at Green.

"Stun Spore, now!" Green screeched just as the rodent pokemon landed heavily in the bushes. Squeezing its eyes shut the Bulbasaur let loose a yellowish powder from the large bulb on its back. The Rattata got shakily to its feet just as the stun spore drifted down onto it. The purple pokemon sneezed then froze in place for a moment. It was completely stunned.

"Throw your Pokeball now, before it recovers," Blue nudged Green with his elbow. Green nodded and flung a Pokeball at the stunned Rattata. With a flash, the Pokemon disappeared into the red and white Pokeball. This Rattata, being stunned, didn't fight nearly as much as the one Blue had caught. It only took a second for the Pokeball to flash its 'caught' signal. Green leaped up in excitement.

"I can't believe it! I already caught my first pokemon!" Green squealed as she raced forward to recover the newly filled Pokeball. She barely noticed as Bulbasaur rubbed itself happily against her legs. Red and Squirtle joined her as they also picked up his own freshly caught pokemon.

Blue turned to Red, smirking. "A bet's a bet, Red. Put your Charmander back in its Pokeball."

"Aw, come on," Red looked at his new Charmander. "It's not his fault that I haven't even seen a pokemon close enough to catch yet."

"You made the bet and he belongs to you," Blue argued, steely-eyed. "Don't try to squirm out of it already, just what I expected of you."

Grimacing Red knew that a deal was a deal and Blue, as he usually did, called him out on it. He shouldn't have made a bet that directly affected his pokemon's happiness. Guilt twisted his stomach into knots.

"Charmander, return," Red pronounced stonily. The pokemon had just enough time to give Red a sad questioning look as if to ask him what it had done wrong to be put back in its Pokeball. Red felt downright sick at himself. He would never make a bet like that ever again in his life. He glared at Blue who smirked and flashed his two occupied pokeballs proudly at everyone.

The four continued along Route One. Blue and Green talked animatedly amongst each other while Yellow and Red followed silently behind them. Red was sulking, Yellow was always quiet. That was why it startled Red when she suddenly shouted!

"Hey!" without any further explanation she dove into the tall grass and trees to the left of the path.

After a second's hesitation, Red ran after her, calling for her to wait. Blue and Green looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They followed after the two at a much slower pace, making fun of them as they went.

Red meanwhile was sprinting through the underbrush, a forearm up to protect his eyes from whipping branches. He could hear Yellow crashing through the underbrush ahead of him and shouting.

"Stop! Stop it now!"

Who was she shouting at? Red ignored the worry that suddenly cropped up in the back of his mind. He burst through a particularly thick patch of tall grass and entangled low hanging branches just in time to see Pikachu leap down from Yellow's shoulder and charge at a flurry of feathers and what looked like string.

Pikachu's headbutt must have landed as two pokemon tumbled end over end away from him. One was a feisty looking Pidgey and the other a wounded Caterpie. Yellow made a beeline for the wounded Caterpie but the Pidgey had already regained its feet and launched itself at the bug-type pokemon.

"No!" Yellow cried out. Pikachu responded with a lightning bolt, separating the two wild pokemon. It missed Pidgey who wheeled about dove toward Pikachu with a harsh cry. Red grabbed Charmander's Pokeball and let his starter pokemon loose. The little orange lizard let out a happy cry but stopped before making a move, unsure of whose side he was supposed to join. Pikachu used quick attack to dodge the attack but the Pidgey's claws still gouged a long scratch across his side. The little yellow pokemon squeaked in pain.

"Charmander, help Pikachu!" Red shouted. Charmander narrowed its green eyes in determination. Pidgey turned sharply again to take another dive at Pikachu but was greeted by a flaming ember attack. The Pidgey tumbled through the air before regaining its equilibrium and flying upward.

"I've got this," Red told Pikachu, pointing in the direction Yellow had disappeared to following the injured Caterpie. Pikachu stopped for just a moment, glancing between where Yellow had gone and the angry Pidgey which had turned and faced Charmander with a fierce cry. Pikachu turned and fled. Yellow was its only family left.

Pidgey began flapping its wings fiercely. It was a gust attack and Red wasn't ready for it. Charmander blew another ember attack but the more experienced wild Pidgey's gust attack blew it back at him harmlessly. Then the attack began in earnest and the wind grew fierce, plants with small roots were lifted from the ground and small pebbles and debris whipped by Red and Charmander's faced.

Red could see the wind begin to blow Charmander back and if he wasn't mistaken it was beginning to lift the fire type pokemon into the air. Red gulped and ran toward Charmander, leaning hard into the wind. Charmander cried out and grabbed onto a branch, the wind began to toss him about like some sort of stuffed animal. How hadn't the Pidgey been worn out by now? Just as the thought occurred to him it was like magic the attack stopped.

Red knew they had to press their advantage. "Charmander, now! Ember, then scratch right below you!"

Charmander leaped from Red's arms and blasted a stream of fire, hotter than he ever had right toward the huffing and puffing Pidgey. Not ready to quit the Pidgey dove fast below the ember attack and came streaking toward Charmander.

Just as Red had commanded Charmander leaped into the air again just in time and slashed downward, his small but incredibly sharp claws made contact and the fierce Pidgey cried out in amazement as much as pain before tumbling head over feet to the grassy ground below.

Surprising everyone the Pidgey regained its feet and came charging toward Charmander.

"Okay Charmander, one more time, ember, give it all you got!" Red shouted as loud as he could.

Charmander let loose a stream of fire just as Pidgey had dove straight for him for a peck attack. The flying type pokemon took the full brunt of the fiery blast right to the face. With one last shrill cry, Pidgey fell, still not entirely unconscious. Charmander looked at Red questioningly then back at the Pidgey.

"I got this, Charmander," Red smiled and threw a brand new Pokeball at the downed Pidgey. A flash of light and a few shakes later the Pokeball beeped that the Pidgey had been caught. He looked back to see if Green or Blue had caught up yet only to find them both standing and staring at him with mouths agape. As soon as Blue realized Red had spotted him he closed his mouth and wiped the awed look off his face. That had been a powerful Pidgey that Red had caught, no question.

"Where's Yellow?" Blue asked the grinning Red who was picking up his newly filled Pokeball. Red broke from his happy reverie.

"She went this way," Red proclaimed running in the same direction Pikachu had.

"I sure hope she hasn't gotten hurt," Blued called after Red's sprinting back. "I'd feel terrible if it were me in your shoes!"

Red wished that Blue wasn't so right as he fought down his choking fear something had happened and sprinted on.

Yellow had followed the injured Caterpie for quite some ways into the thicker areas surrounding Route One. Finally, the poor thing had fallen down, exhausted and tried a feeble string shot before seeming to give up altogether.

"I'll get you fixed up, I promise," Yellow told the Caterpie as she picked up her Pokeball. She placed it on her belt and turned to head back the way she had come only to realize she had no idea which way that actually was.

It was ridiculous, she had lived in the woods all her life and not gotten lost, but then Pikachu had always been by her side. Where was he now? Panic rose up in her throat and threatened to choke her. Her mind raced and she couldn't even remember the last time she had seen Pikachu, had it been when he had charged the Pidgey or had Pikachu followed behind her only to lose her in the brush?

Yellow could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Maybe she wasn't meant to be a trainer after all. She was always getting the injured pokemon, the rejects, the ones no one wanted. Everyone told her she was too soft-hearted, that she'd never make a good trainer. She had to toughen up. What if they were right?

Thankfully her pity party was interrupted by an enthusiastic squeak and Pikachu leaped through the grass and into her arms. Yellow burst into thankful tears and held Pikachu close for a moment, feeling the reassuring warmth of the little pokemon. Finally, she let him go and turned to him.

"Which way is it back to Route One?" she asked, she felt embarrassed even asking the pokemon such a dumb question. Pikachu just looked at her. She sighed knelt down to rub the top of his head.

"I know I should know the answer to that, Pikachu, but it's been a really emotional day and I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and I wish someone would just help me out without asking for something in return for once."

Then she noticed the long angry scratch across Pikachu's back. "Oh! Pikachu, how selfish of me. I've been sitting here crying while you were fighting my battles for me. What is wrong with me?" She took out an expensive potion and sprayed Pikachu's wound. Pikachu winced as it stitched itself back together like it never was. Thank goodness it had only been superficial, potions only worked on small wounds.

"Let's go," she scooped up her best friend and put him on her shoulder. She marched confidently back the way she had come without even thinking about it. It wasn't long until she ran into the others much to Red's relief and Blue's annoyance.


	7. I Choose You!: Team Rocket Attacks!

**Chapter 5:**

 **Team Rocket Attacks!**

If it was dangerous to travel alone on Route One during the daytime; Route One during the nighttime was terrifying. The four trainers had their one person tents crowded as close together, and as close to the fire, as safety would allow. All four were now in their sleeping bags, their heads poking out the front flap. Yellow sat staring in the flames, she was in between Red and Blue who kept shooting each other dirty looks. It was exasperating. Green, across from her, was already trying to sleep.

"What was that?" Red asked.

"That was the cry of a Spearow," Yellow answered him, not turning her eyes from the dancing fire in front of her.

"What was that?" Yellow asked Red in turn.

"That was my stomach," Red said quietly, turning his gaze from her, his face flushed. Yellow recognized that look, she had worn it many times herself.

"Didn't your mother pack you some food before you left?" Yellow asked him, lowering her voice to match his.

"What's the matter, Red?" Blue asked from across the fire. "You afraid of a little Spearow?"

"What makes me nervous is that it shouldn't still be up and crying after sunset," Yellow glanced out into the dark knight sky, after staring into the fire it was pitch black. "Something must have disturbed it."

"There's nothing all that dangerous between here and Viridian City," Blue dismissed though he followed her eyes into the darkness around them.

"There's Raticate," Green suddenly joined the conversation. "There's also rumors of a family of Nidoran roaming about. One poison sting from them and it'll be the end of your Pokemon journey."

"My Squirtle could take them," Blue shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm definitely nervous," Red admitted to everyone, he'd rather talk about this than someone pick up on Yellow's question. "I just have to keep reminding myself that one day I am going to be a pokemon ranger, just like my dad was, so I'd better get used to sleeping out under the night sky, and hearing strange pokemon cries."

"You? A ranger?" Blue scoffed. "They have to collect at least eight badges and win at least five official tournaments before they will even be considered for a ranger. You don't stand a chance."

"You know," Yellow piped up. "Just because you come from a famous of famous pokemon professors and breeders doesn't mean you are better than any of us here. You talk a big game, Blue, but in the end you haven't won anything more than we have, you have no badges than we have, you aren't any better than us. So quit talking to us like you are some kind of expert, you are nothing. Just like us."

Everyone, including Red, stared in shocked silence at the normally quiet and kind Yellow. A smile slowly began to replace Red's gaping shocked look. Yellow didn't care what Green did.

"Whatever," Blue turned and laid on his back. Green stayed silent.

"I thought nothing could shut him up," Red whispered at her. She smiled at him but in her stomach a knot began to form. She never shouted at anybody. What was wrong with her that she thought she could just treat Blue so bad? He might be a jerk but that didn't mean she had to turn into one. A low growl interrupted her thoughts. Red.

Yellow reached into her pack and pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Oak had given her. She had been saving it for tomorrow but obviously Red needed more than she did. She placed it on his pillow just as he began to lay down to sleep like the rest of the group. He paused.

"Yellow, it's okay, you don't have to," Red began.

"I want to," she whispered to him honestly. "I kinda feel like a jerk for shouting at Blue like that and this helps me feel better."

"You feel bad?" Red asked incredulously as he hesitantly took the sandwich from her. "Don't! He's a total dick, he earned that."

"Yeah," Yellow smiled. "He kinda did, didn't he."

"Are you kidding me?" Red crammed the sandwich into his mouth and took an enormous bite. "Hemfrij grrumph guh ruhd mu na nat."

"What?" Yellow asked. "I can't understand you when your mouth is full."

Red swallowed, with some effort. "He deserves a lot worse than that, is what I said. He's been tormenting me my whole life."

"Yeah, most bullies seem to make it a lifelong profession," Yellow glanced in Blue's direction. She felt bad for talking about the guy but at the same time, it was so nice to feel like someone else understood her. "Anyway, I'm exhausted, let's get some sleep."

Red nodded at her as he crammed the last bit of sandwich into his already full mouth. He must have been starving. At least she felt good about that. She resolved not to let Blue turn her into a jerk like him. She hoped Red would understand if she didn't stand up for him again. She opened her mouth and realized that Red had fallen fast asleep seconds after he had gulped down the last of his food. She worked hard at slowing her racing thoughts, she needed the sleep, her feet hurt after walking all day. Moments later she slipped into the realm of dreams as another Spearow called out in the night.

 **Later . . .**

Red threw his Pokeball with all his might, his Gengar burst forth with a mischievous cry, glaring at the Blastoise standing waiting for him.

"Gengar! Shadowball!" The ghost Pokemon stretched its short arms in front of its body. Black energy cracked about its clawed purple hands. Just then Gengar was hit with a water cannon, startling Red awake.

Red sat up in his sleeping bag, moaning groggily. He had really like that dream. What had happened to wake him? As if to answer him there was a faraway _boom_ followed by a few popping sounds. Red rubbed his eyes and crawled out of his bag, jamming his shoes hurriedly onto his feet. He was surprised to find that he was the only one to be awoken by the explosion, though he supposed it had come from far away.

Another explosion, about the same distance as before. Red was more alert this time and heard far away shouting, definitely human but too far to make out. He groped in the dark, the fire had burned itself out and was now nothing but crimson smoldering coals. He finally grasped his bag and extracted his two occupied pokeballs.

"Charmander, help me see," Red whispered as he opened a Pokeball. Charmander and his miraculous flaming tail appeared before him. The blaze cast a bright enough glow that Red could see about eight feet in front of him.

Another explosion, it might just be his imagination but Red felt that this one was closer than the last two. He motioned for Charmander to follow him and followed the sound into the night toward some wooded hills.

Red hadn't made it very far when he heard something come crashing through the underbrush toward him from behind. He and Charmander spun around, the orange pokemon opened his mouth, ready to spit ember. Blue stumbled through the brush, his face flushed and incredulous.

"Hold it, Red!" Blue growled at him. "I knew you were dumb but there is no way you are this stupid. You hear mysterious explosions and screaming and you run towards them? What the hell is the matter with you?"

"It could be a rare pokemon!" Red proclaimed as if that explained everything.

"I thought you were scared of the dark back the camp," Blue seemed disappointed to find it wasn't the case. "Even if it is a rare Pokemon, what do you think you are going to do with it once you find it? Challenge it with that puny Charmander of yours? It would kill you both easily. Come on. Have some sense and come back to camp with me."

"You're just scared I'll get strong pokemon that you won't have. That you won't be able to stand up to me in battle. Just admit it, you are too scared to go out there and get it for yourself and you are scared that I will get it myself."

"What? No. I'm scared whatever it is might follow your stupid scent back to camp and kill us along with you!"

"You're such a jerk," Red turned and charged off toward worrying noises.

"Red, you idiot!" Blue called after him. "Think of Yellow!"

Red paused.

"What about me?" Yellow suddenly appeared from behind Blue. Green was right behind her. "What are you talking about?"

There was another explosion, definitely closer than the first two this time.

"Hear that?" Blue asked. Yellow's face went pale. Green looked more interested than scared. "Your idiot friend there wants to go find out what that is."

"Red?" Yellow's voice was tremulous. "Is Blue telling the truth?"

"I just want to see if it's a rare Pokemon," Red tried to reassure her.

"Red, please don't" Yellow sounded genuinely terrified for him. It wasn't all that crazy to search out a rare pokemon in the night, all the Champions admitted to doing it. What was the issue?

"It's not really a big deal," Red rationalized with her. "Whatever it is, it is so noisy that I can sneak up on it easily, I'll just take a quick look and if I don't think Charmander can take it I'll head back to camp, okay?"

"No," Yellow didn't seem comforted at all. "It isn't okay, this is a big deal, Red you could die!"

"I accepted that risk when I chose to be a Pokemon trainer," Red told her, his resolve firm in his voice. He turned and headed back into the dark, his Charmander following him faithfully.

"It's how my parents died, Red!" Yellow burst out.

Red paused again. "What?"

"Six years ago I was with my parents in the forest when we saw explosions and lights and it was beautiful but when we went to go get a closer look the whole mountainside just crumbled on top of my parents! They hadn't even gotten that close! I had to watch my parents die, all because I wanted to see what the pretty little lights were coming from!" Tears streamed down her cheeks at this admission.

"Six years ago?" Red asked.

"It doesn't matter how long ago!" Blue interrupted. "Red, can't you see you are upsetting your friend?"

"Like you said, Blue, you come from a family of famous trainers, you have all of them supporting you and you've been given chance to see and work with Pokemon I've never even heard of, living so close to your grandpa's lab. If I am going to have a chance at being a Pokemon Ranger like my father then I'm going to have to take risks that no one else is willing to take, I'm going to have to push myself harder and faster than you will ever have to, just to get a small chance at making my dreams come true. So, I am going, I'm sorry Yellow, but I am not your parents, and we aren't close to the mountains. I will be a Pokemon Ranger like my dad, and I am going to make him proud."

Even Blue didn't know how to respond to that.

"I'm going with you," Green came marching around from behind Blue. "Red's right, if I'm going to get rich off this trainer thing I'm going to have to take some risks."

"You're both insane," Blue rolled his eyes at them.

"Whatever it takes," Red didn't bother denying it. The two turned and disappeared into the darkness.

"I'm going back to camp," Yellow told Blue and made her way back the same way she had come, her Pikachu sparked its red-dotted cheeks to light their way. Yellow only glanced back once.

Blue rolled his eyes at himself. He knew he couldn't let the other two get killed without at least trying to do something about it. He couldn't believe he was doing this as he charged forward, following the small glimmer of Charmander's flame. He hoped he wouldn't be forced to babysit them all until they were all strong enough to travel on their own. It might be a very long wait.

Yellow made her way slowly back towards camp. She couldn't believe that Red had abandoned her in his search for power. She thought he would have been better than that, he had seemed like it anyhow. She cursed him. What a jerk. Worse than those open blatant jerks like Blue, Red pretended to care and be better but the next thing she knew he was leaving her crying while he went with her bully to gain power.

More tears spilled down her cheeks. It wasn't fair. Blue, a total jerk, had a large family of uncles and cousins and an amazing grandpa. She was alone. No one cared about her, no matter how good of a person she was. As if sensing her thoughts Pikachu nuzzled his warm cheeks against hers.

"I'm never alone as long as I've got you, huh Pikachu?" She scratched him on top of his head and behind his ears. He cooed as she did. She loved seeing the Pokemon happy, he truly was as close to family as she had. She had hoped that would change as she set out with other trainers her age on this journey but so far all she had met was bullies and a fake friend. Again a knot formed in her stomach. She knew she wasn't being fair. She didn't care, why couldn't anyone put her first for once?

And who exactly am I putting first? The question hit her like thunder from her Pikachu. Here she was expecting something from Red that she wasn't willing to give him. She was so wrapped up in her own fear and misery that she hadn't stopped to give thought to what Red might need from her. If she had wanted him as a friend she had better start acting like a good friend instead of just expecting one from him.

"I think I made a mistake, Pikachu, but I am so scared," she told her furry yellow Pokemon. Pikachu rubbed against her face again, cooing comfortingly. He was always there for her, ever since that dreadful day.

"I hope it's not too late," Yellow suddenly turned around, determined, and marched back toward the explosions.

Red and Green were grateful the trees grew thicker as they approached the last explosion they had heard. They also heard the shouts and Red didn't like them one bit. They ducked low as they heard a particularly close cry.

"My Abra is preventing it from teleporting but I'm not sure how long it can hold it," someone was shouting.

Red peered over a large fallen log and finally spotted the source of all the commotion. In the center of a clearing was floating a beautiful Abra, the poor thing was surrounded by a swarm of Team Rocket goons in their black suits with the red "R" emblazoned on their chests. Red clenched his fists and stood up, Charmander stood at the ready.

"Before you do something truly idiotic maybe you should consider your poor Pokemon's chances of surviving," Blue's mocking voice rung through the night air.

"It's Team Rocket," Red growled through clenched teeth. "Team Rocket killed my father when I was ten!"

"I know he wouldn't want you to die at their hands then," Green, surprisingly empathetic at that moment, touched Red's arm.

"None of you could understand!" Red shut them up with a swipe of his arm. "I have to do this!"

"No, you don't," Blue began. But it fell on deaf ears as Red pulled away from Blue's calming hand and charged into the clearing full of criminals.

"This is wrong!" Red shouted as he ran to stand in front of the poor outnumbered Abra. "This isn't how you do this!"

"Where the hell did he come from?" one of the Team Rocket goons called out. "Get outta here, kid!"

Charmander joined Red's side and spouted flame at the gathered goons. They stepped back and the loudest of them stood forward.

"Fine, boy, if that's how you want it," the grunt pulled forth a Pokeball. "Machop! Teach this brat and his annoying Pokemon a lesson!"

With a bright flash, a Machop stood in front of Red, taking a fighting a stance. Again Charmander spat ember, but this time it was directed solely at Machop. The fighting-type Pokemon easily dodged the attack and raced into close quarters.

"Watch out!" Red called out, his heart in his throat. This was his first real battle and it was against an experienced adult. Charmander dodged aside and brought up his tail in an attack. Machop spun around his tail and, true to his name, chopped Charmander across the back with his thick hands.

Charmander cried out in pain but whipped its head about and blasted Machop in the face. The Machop stumbled backward. Before Red could revel in his small victory a Spearow swooped down and scratched Charmander on top of his head.

"Hey!" Red called out. He was about to say something about fairness but these were Team Rocket goons. A Zubat followed suit, diving at Charmander. This time Charmander let loose with a stream of fire over his head. The Zubat plunged to the earth, but an Ekans had a hold of Charmander's legs. It swept Charmander's feet up into the air, a blast went wild, hitting the Abra that was holding their original target prisoner. The victim Abra disappeared and the rest of the goons turned their full attention on Red.

Nervous, Red let loose his Pidgey. "Pidgey, go help Charmander!" The brave Pidgey he had caught just that day dove into the fray. It knocked aside another attacking Zubat and blew several attacking Pokemon away with a gust. It was too little, too late.

Charmander was fully wrapped up in Ekans' coils, with one quick jump the singed Machop grabbed Pidgey by the legs and pulled it down. The fight was over in a matter of seconds and Red stood stunned. He hadn't stood a chance. Now his poor Pokemon were going the pay the price for his stupidity.

"You assaulted Team Rocket!" The main grunt bellowed at Red. "You must not know who Team Rocket is, boy. Let me introduce ourselves, there is no law that kind bind us, no Pokemon that can escape our grasp and no trainer who can defeat us. Who are we?" This last part was bellowed out to the rest of his gang.

"Team Rocket!" the rest of the gang chorused in response.

"Usually, the penalty for interfering in Team Rocket business is death!" several grunts cheered. "But since we don't have time for the usual torture and death required, and also since I can see that you are a brand new trainer I'm going to go easy on you. We aren't going to take your life, just your Pokemon! Good luck surviving the night!"

"What? No!" Red screamed and ran toward his two captive Pokemon. "Charmander! Pidgey! No!" One of the grunts pushed him, hard, to the ground.

"Don't make me regret my leniency, boy," the main grunt grabbed his Pokeballs and recalled his Pokemon.

Red stood again but was pushed down again, this time with a fist to his face.

"I'm giving you one last chance, boy," the main grunt came over and pressed his booted foot into Red's chest. He slowly squeezed the air from Red's already belabored lungs. "Stay down!"

With that the Team Rocket grunts raced off into the woods, leaving a sobbing Red behind. After a full minute of silence, his companions burst from the bushes and rushed toward the injured trainer. Yellow was first to arrive by his side.

"Red! Are you alright? I thought they were going to kill you!" Yellow's eyes filled with tears as she examined his scraped and bruised body.

"You should have listened to me," Blue stated matter-of-factly while he and Yellow helped Red to his feet.

"He doesn't listen to you, he doesn't listen to Yellow, he doesn't listen to anyone, which is why he failed," Green surmised, sneering down at him. Red flushed at her words but didn't refute them. Yellow glared at her. Green didn't care. "It's probably best for your Pokemon that they got taken, you're not ready to be a Pokemon trainer."

Even injured Red lunged at Green, with Yellow and Blue barely able to hold him back. "You watch your mouth! I love my Pokemon!" Red struggled to get out of his companions' grasp so he could hurt Green.

"Even I think you are out of line," Blue told Green.

"Come on," Green slowly put a little distance between herself and Red. "You know I'm right. He needs to hear this."

"You are just cruel," Yellow told her. Green shrugged.

"It doesn't matter," Red stopped struggling and stood on his own. "I _will_ get my Pokemon back. Then I'm going to become a Pokemon Champion so I can take Team Rocket down once and for all!"

"You really are crazy," Blue shook his head.

Red ignored him. He had to figure out how he was going to get his Pokemon back.


	8. I Choose You!: Stealing from Thieves

**Chapter 6:**

 **5/26 Stealing from Thieves**

"I'm going after them!" Red declared with finality.

"What?" Blue asked incredulously. "Are you crazy, do you not remember what _just_ happened?"

"Yes," Red said grimly. "I remember just fine. My pokemon were taken from me, they are my family now. Someone took my family from me and I am going to go and get them back. How do you not understand this?"

"You can get another Pokemon!" Blue cried out in exasperation. "I'm sure my soft-hearted grandpa will spare another for _you_."

"You don't listen. I don't want _another_ Pokemon, I want MY Pokemon, the ones they took from me!"

"You're an idiot," Green observed.

"I really don't care what you think," Red waved at Green dismissively. Surprising the young female trainer, Red had always seemed to be such a people pleaser. She was smarter than him, didn't he see it?

"Pikachu and I will help you," Yellow didn't hesitate to volunteer.

"Are you kidding me?" Blue looked at Yellow in shock.

"His family is in danger, I have to help," Yellow responded.

"They're Pokemon! Not family! Why do you two keep talking like you've lost your parents?"

"Because we have!" Red answered without really thinking of Blue's context. "And if you knew what that felt like you wouldn't abandon anyone _ever_."

Yellow nodded in agreement and then the two simply jogged off, following Team Rockets' footprints.

"Oh my god!" Blue groaned. "I swear to God that I am going to leave you all in the dust the second my pokemon are strong enough!" Blue bemoaned, after a few seconds he groaned and followed the two heedless trainers' footprints. Green stared after his back for a moment before rolling her eyes and joining him in the chase.

Red stared at the thickly overgrown forest floor, it was easy to follow Team Rocket's tracks as they mobbed their way through the woods. That was until they all split up. Suddenly he found himself with tracks that went in fifteen different directions. He stopped his headlong run into the woods. He could hear Yellow crashing through the underbrush after him. He felt panic start deep in his chest and rise until it choked his throat and made it hard to breathe. He tried to calm himself as he stared about. Which trail should he follow?

"Red!" Yellow called out to him as she finally came within view. "I've been living in the woods my whole life! Let me help!"

"I gotta figure out where to go!" Red said more to himself than to Yellow. "Which ones should I follow?"

"These!" Yellow immediately pointed at a particular set of footprints. "More than one person made this indentation. It is set deep as if many people copied the same exact path, but it isn't wide enough to be someone's prints who would weigh enough to cause such deep indentation."

"I don't get it," Red was obviously overwhelmed. Yellow didn't blame him, his Pokemon had been taken.

"They are purposely trying to throw someone off their trail. They all split up then came back and followed a single leader's footsteps exactly. It's a classic maneuver for those who travel in groups."

Red stared at Yellow for second with respect. "You obviously know what you are talking about."

"Pikachu and I have a lot of experience tracking together, don't we, Pikachu?"

Pikachu actually nodded and Red felt his heart rate slow, ever so slightly. He was in good company. He was going to get his Pokemon back. He just had to. He was going to be a Pokemon Ranger like his father, he had already sacrificed so much to make it happen, he couldn't afford to give up or be overwhelmed now.

Just then Blue and Yellow arrived, they looked about in confusion. They weren't even looking at Team Rocket's tracks. Red rolled his eyes and followed Yellow as she wordlessly took the lead and followed the trail she had pointed out. Red felt a warm sense of gratitude for her just then as if her act of kindness had suddenly warmed his blood. He wouldn't forget her willingness to help, no matter the danger.

"Let's go," Blue groaned at Green as they brought up the rear, decidedly slower than Red or Yellow.

Red raced behind Yellow as she sped through the woods without seeming to have to look at Team Rockets' footprints. He watched in astonishment as the various trails all came back to form one obvious trail again. She had saved him lots of time. Yellow held up a hand to warn him of something and slowed. Red crouched and joined her as she approached what appeared to be the edge of a clearing.

Red and Yellow stared at the various simple dark-colored tents set up in some sort of haphazard order. Red knew his Pokemon had to be out there among them somewhere. Yellow seemed as intent on finding his Pokemon as he was. His heart warmed again at sight of her gazing about, her eyes darting back and forth with frantic energy. The same frantic energy that he felt.

Realizing he was neglecting his duties he turned and somehow immediately spotted his Pokeballs. He had used a permanent black marker to write a black "R" on the top of each of his Pokeballs. They lay amidst a pile of other, probably stolen, Pokeballs from young trainers just starting out on their journeys. Red burned with anger. People just like him.

He motioned at Yellow until she finally glanced back at him and he pointed out his Pokeballs. She seemed surprised. Red wasn't sure he should be proud or embarrassed. He chose the latter.

Just as he was about to try and explain his plan to Yellow Blue and Green arrived, much to his annoyance. He didn't need them. They just bullied and mocked him and he had no energy to spare for people like them while his Pokemon were in trouble. Blue and Green also seemed surprised. Screw them.

Just as Red was about to try and sneak into the camp he noticed Yellow pointing out the five Team Rocket members left roaming about camp, probably standing guard. Red balked for a moment and to his shock and amazement, Green stepped forward. She held up her hand quietly as if volunteering herself.

"Are you kidding me?" Red asked as quietly as he could muster.

"Look, I know you know me well enough to know that I have at least some experience in stealing things. I also know you well enough to know that you have no experience in stealing things. Just let me do this, okay?"

Red was shocked at Green's admission. He hadn't expected her to come out and admit it in front of everyone. "They're my Pokemon, I should be the one to risk myself to get them back."

"Yet again, you are an idiot," Blue interrupted. "You have someone who is admittedly better than everyone else at something that no one else has any experience with and you won't let her use her talents. No wonder you are so weak and lost your Pokemon. You refuse to use your best option for the moment. You don't deserve to get those Pokemon back."

Red burned with the sting of Blue's accusation. Was he right? Weren't his Pokemon worth so much more than his pride? Wasn't it his fault that he had lost them in the first place? Everyone had warned him but he had refused to listen. Now everyone was trying to tell him something again. Was he going to make the same mistake, at the sacrifice of his own Pokemon? No.

"You are right, Green," Red finally admitted to the dark-haired girl. "You are the best for the job. Please bring my Pokemon back to me."

"Now we're talking," Green nodded in agreement and slinked away without a sound. Red's breath was caught in his throat. Was Green good enough to get his Pokemon back while avoiding detection? She did have a reputation for being sneaky and manipulative but she was going up against the biggest, most ruthless criminal organization in Kanto. He should have gone, this was his responsibility.

Every few seconds Green pop into view, hiding behind a pile of wood or a dark tent as she made her way zigzagging to his Pokeballs. Red nearly gasped as a Team Rocket member strolled ever so close to Green as she pressed herself against a tree in the middle of the camp. The criminal strode right towards Green but it didn't look like he had spotted her yet. How was she going to avoid capture?

Blue suddenly threw a small pebble at the opposite end of the camp, it cracked sharply as it hit a small boulder next the campfire. The Team Rocket guard spun around, looking for the origin of the noise. Green took advantage and dove into one of the tents, hoping against hope that it was empty. The guard turned back toward where Green had just been, shrugging, likely discounting the noise as the fire crackling.

Inside the darkened tent Green tried to control her breathing as she watched from the shadows the guard making his way past her. She was sweating profusely, the near catch had made her heart pound and the blood rush in her ears. Why was she doing this for that pompous little jerk Red? She already knew the answer to that question, she had always felt a need to prove herself, she knew she was braver than Red but she had to prove it to everyone else. She cursed herself for making such a rash decision.

"Almost there," she whispered comfortingly to herself. The guard and passed out of view. She crept back to the entrance of the tent and made sure no one else was coming before crouching and racing toward the woodpile in front of her. Next was the pile of Pokeballs where she could see the "R" marked balls Red had pointed out.

She kept low as she snuck toward the large pile of Pokeballs, these idiots didn't post a guard at their stolen treasure. They deserved to get stolen from just as they had done to so many young trainers. She was crouching between two tents not any more than eight feet from the pile. She glanced in every direction, the three guards were either facing away from her and the rest were completely out of sight. She dashed forward and grasped the two balls from the pile and grinned triumphantly as she clasped them to her belt.

She had done it! She had taken on the biggest Poke-thieves of Kanto and won! Good thing she had three witnesses or no one would believe her. She glanced around and realized the three guards had gathered together and were conferring with each other with their backs to her.

She looked at the pile of Pokeballs and just couldn't help herself. Stealing from thieves wasn't really stealing.

She grabbed two more Pokeballs, still giddy with victory. Unfortunately, with those two balls taken from the pile, it grew loose and suddenly they were all tumbling over one another as the pile collapsed and the Pokeballs scattered in all directions.

Green winced at the sound and spun around, all three guards were looking right at her. She knew was already dead. She ran. They shouted.


	9. I Choose You: Battle Against Team Rocket

**Chapter 7:**

 **5/26 Battle Against Team Rocket!**

"Follow me!" Yellow cried back as she dashed into the woods. The other three Pallet Town natives had learned she knew best when it came to the woods. Blue and Red started after her as Green sprinted behind them. The three guards that had spotted Green had warned the other two that had disappeared out of sight and the two joined them in the chase, weaving through the trees almost like experts.

However, the true expert here was Yellow who lead her friends on the easiest and quickest path through the woods, from experience her eyes notice small details amongst the vegetation at a high speed. A half-hidden stone here and a dip in the ground there didn't escape her notice. Team Rocket grunts were watching in annoyance as the distance between the two groups grew ever larger.

"We need to stay behind and guard the camp!" the two guards who were the furthest back shouted at their companions.

"We can't let them escape!" the leading grunt shouted back at them in irritations. Evidently, both of the guards right behind him agreed as they continued their high-speed pursuit. One of them snarled in frustration and pulled out a Pokeball from his waist. He tossed it into the air and it flashed open.

"Go!" he shouted simply and pointed at the four fleeing young trainers. The Zubat that fluttered before him evidently understood his intent and zoomed after the new trainers with a frantic flap of its blue wings. It flew over the four then dove with a spin to intercept them. They skidded to a halt as it did the same right in front of them, screeches issued from its fanged mouth. They held their hands to their ears.

"That's it, Zubat!" the grunt shouted at his Pokemon. With another flash, a Geodude and a Paras joined their criminal masters in catching up with the Pallet Towners. The levitating rock-type Pokemon grunted as it caught up and circled around the novices. With a nasty hiss, the Paras joined him. Not to be outdone Green let loose Red's Charmander, Blue revealed his Squirtle and Yellow's Pikachu leaped into the fray.

"Give yourselves a break," the leader of the trio of Team Rocket grunts snarled at them. His dark hair slicked back with some kind of grease Green had thought Team Rocket would look cooler for some reason. She couldn't help feeling disappointed. "You are all new to this, I've been battling for years. Just turn your Pokemon over to us and we will let you live. If not, well I can't help what our Pokemon might do to you."

As if to emphasize what his master was saying the Geodude flexed his stone muscles, Paras flashed its pincers menacingly and Zubat let loose with another cry. Charmander roared fiercely his green eyes burrowing holes in the grunts' faces. He snarled again and let loose with a huge stream of flame at the flapping Zubat without Red's command. He growled again and turned his attention directly to the Team Rocket grunts.

Charmander sucked in all the air it could muster into its mighty lungs and let loose unlike any other Charmander had ever unleashed on an opponent. Just at the last second Geodude dove in and took the brunt of the fiery blast, the heat caused the trio of grunts to back up, their hands in front of their eyes. They looked at each other in worry.

"We may have underestimated them."

"You think?"

The Geodude stayed afloat for a moment, glowing red from the heat, then dropped to the ground with a _thud._

Charmander stood before them, panting but looking just as angry as he had a moment before. Looks of worry turned into looks of fright. Zubat darted down toward Charmander, screeching. There was a brilliant flash and yellow lightning caught Zubat by surprise. The bat-like Pokemon froze in mid-air as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through its small body. With a sizzling sound, it too dropped from the air.

The Paras stood bravely between the grunts and the young trainers. Charmander was still getting his breath back but glowered at the pincered Pokemon. The little mushroom Pokemon let loose with a Stun Spore. Everyone had to jump back to avoid being stunned, even Charmander. The second it seemed to have passed Red raced toward the trio himself. Shouting angrily at them.

"My Pokemon are my family! How dare you take them from me! I won't stop until Team Rocket has been destroyed! Do you hear me?" Red collided into the grunt leader, his fists flailing.

"Yeah, kid," the grunt pulled out a knife and thrust it forward, stabbing Red right in the torso. "I hear you!"

With a savage cry, Charmander leaped over his master and let loose with another fire blast right into the face of the grunt leader. He hadn't recovered from his last blast completely so it wasn't as strong, but it was strong enough.

The grunt leader screamed in agony as flames engulfed his face, burning and igniting his flesh. He stumbled backward, anything to get away from the flames. He staggered and cried out as he heard his skin sizzle and saw smoke curling away from his face. His pain-induced screams filled the air. The other two grunts helped him to his feet and they all fled in terror away from the heavily panting Charmander.

"We're going to bring our friends back and we are gonna kill you!" one of the uninjured grunts called back at them. His horrified eyes couldn't turn away from the still burning flesh of his comrade as they fled.

Yellow raced over to the prone form of Red as Charmander nuzzled his owner with a sense of growing urgency. "He's been stabbed!"

"Cowards!" Blue hissed. You didn't bring a knife to a Pokemon fight. It was as about as cowardly thing as you could do except bringing a gun, that was worse.

"I'm alright," Red grunted, holding his hand to his ribs, his fingers were oozing blood from his side.

"No, you're not alright at all," Yellow said, propping him up on her shoulder. Without hesitation, Blue took his other side. Green was looking around as if she were in some kind of dream, a familiar one.

"Hey!" Green shouted. "I remember this place!"

"Good for you," Yellow sniped.

"No, it is good!" Green said, staring about her, trying to catch her bearings. "We can get him some help, follow me!"

She stumbled forward into the woods as they got a little thicker, nothing quite like the Viridian Forest but still thick and overgrown. At first, she seemed uncertain of herself as she paused several times, mumbling to herself, and then would head in a new direction than they had been going. Meanwhile Red got heavier and heavier in Yellow's arms. She watched in worry as his skin grew paler and colder. He was definitely losing blood too fast.

She had seen the signs before and Yellow was desperate to save her new friend. She wasn't sure she could make it as a trainer with just the other two at her side. He had been the first friend she had in almost a decade and in such a short time she had come to care for him more than she dared realize. His feet began to drag and Yellow looked desperately up at Green hoping she knew what she was doing.

Green was growing more and more certain of herself as they neared their destination. She definitely knew where she was going and exactly how to get there. She had traced these same steps many times in her childhood.

"Green!" Blue shouted out at her. "Are we nearly there? I think he is beginning to lose consciousness."

As if to answer her question for her the trees cleared up and a great glass dome loomed before them, nearly as tall as the old trees. A big sign painted above its entrance was lettered "Xanadu Nursery". Yellow had heard of the place but had never been there herself. Green grinned and rushed forward.

Yellow and Blue slowly pulled their companion forward, a little less sure than Green.

Green opened the door for them as they staggered inside. A beautiful young woman with purple hair rounded the corner, surrounded by greenhouse plants, some growing up form pots, some hanging from the glass ceiling.

"Green!" the woman opened her arms for a hug. "Why didn't you let us know you were going to come for a visit? We would have made sure to have Potter here so he could take over for me."

"It's an emergency, Florinda!" Green told her friend as she hugged her.

"What's the matter?" That was the first time she took more than a glancing look at the three that had followed Green into the nursery. "Oh." Red's pale complexion and the dark red stain of blood slowly growing across his shirt was an immediate giveaway. Florinda rushed forward and helped Blue and Yellow support Red. "What happened?"

"Team Rocket," Blue said grimly as she led through the middle of the nursery to the open garden in the middle and had them lay Red down on the bench there next to a pond filled with Magikarp and Goldeen.

"I'll see what I can do," Florinda told them, careful not to promise anything to them. They stared grimly at their young companion.

"This isn't fair," Yellow almost sobbed. "He just got his freedom."

"I have to admit he was brave," Blue glanced at the now passed out Red. "Stupid, but brave."

"It's my fault he's hurt," Green finally admitted. "He trusted me to get his Pokemon but I couldn't help but grab another couple, that's when Team Rocket noticed me. Not when I took his Pokeballs but when I got greedy.

"Look," Blue turned to Green with a very serious expression. "Life is too crazy to be blaming ourselves for what happens to other people. He chose to let you get his Pokeballs for him, I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

Blue trailed off from his little preaching session when he noticed that a number of grass-type Pokemon had gathered around them. There were several Bulbasaur and Oddish and Gloom even a couple of shy Bellspout poked their heads out from large leaves of the bushes and trees that inhabited the greenhouse.

"What's going on?" Blue asked nervously.

"I told you she would help," Green proclaimed proudly.

Red Letters: Review Section

 _ **Odin92**_ _**chapter 1 . Sep 27, 2018**_

 _ **This was very cool, I like it. I had assumed that Crimson was a play on Ash, so it was a nice surprise to see him come into the scene. Very curious as to Giovanni's arc as well.**_

 _ **If you wouldn't mind, I'd be very appreciate if you checked out my story "Trainer" when you get the time.**_

 _ **Definitely keep this going!**_

Thank you so much for the review, I did check out your story "Trainer" and enjoyed it very much, as you can tell by my reviews. Giovanni definitely does have a long story arc in this version and you will eventually see his final destiny. This Volume has both Ash, Red and original characters like Crimson but the focus is very much on the four Video Game/Manga characters Red, Green, Blue and Yellow. I definitely plan on keeping this going, I have detailed plans for 187 Chapters.

-Evy Sevin

 _ **Katske**_ _**chapter 1 . Mar 26**_

 _ **I'm really curious who Miya is, lover? sibling? friend? And will it matter other than Giovani's reason for everything he does after this? Oh, poor crimson... could Ash misty or gary have stayed behind to try and find any survivors? one of them could have stayed behind and still have two to rescue the professor. I also like how those three are working as a team. Did Gary and Ash start off as rivals like canon or were they always friends?**_

To answer who Miya was to Giovanni, she is actually a canon character from the anime, I was the one to decide to make her a kind of lover to Giovanni in this as you will discover much later in the story. While Ash and friends could have stayed behind I think they were more frightened that more Team Rocket members would likely arrive soon. In this canon Gary and Ash were definitely not friends at first and were very much like anime Ash and Gary.

-Evy Sevin

Odin92 chapter 2 . Oct 11, 2018

 _ **Really great yet again! I really enjoyed this one. I especially like how you're setting up each of (what I assume) will be the main characters.**_

Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed, and yes these two first chapters were really to set up our two of our main protagonists.

-Evy Sevin

Katske chapter 3 . Mar 26

 _ **On the one hand, like Oak, i understand her immediate reaction, but on the other, after six years she has not handled her grief well. At all. And Red, who was the one she clung to, must have been so stifled all his life. I kind of feel bad for scarlet, but on the other hand, she doesn't seem like she was ever open to any kind of conversation that would be even indirectly opposed to her beliefs. As shown when her immediate reaction to reds declaration is throwing him out of her family. She may be a loving mother, but again, she has not handled her grief well. or accepted that her child would one day grow up and make his own decisions.**_

You are right Scarlet most certainly hasn't handled her grief well, that is the main factor in driving her and her son apart. Scarlet is actually modeled after a mother I knew growing up and she did a lot of the same things to her favorite son. Eventually, they fell apart just like these two as she just could not accept him as his own person. I'm glad you caught on what I was trying to say and do with the character.

-Evy Sevin

deltakid4 chapter 3 . Oct 16, 2018

 _ **This story is too up the good work.**_

Thank You!

-Evy Sevin

Katske chapter 4 . Mar 26

 _ **Okay, so Gary and blue are cousins? Again, did Gary grow out of his jerk faze or was he always a better person? Because, wow, Blue you are an Ass. Poor professor. I'm curious, will his children, the parents of blue and Gary, be making an appearance? Or are they inconsequential? It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious. And I would hope the Oak wouldn't have been able to raise blue as he is. I understand children can and will be cruel, but still. How important will green be? Because we know yellow already has a backstory, ergo important.**_

 _ **And I understand why Oak would feel guilty, but why would he keep yellow and her situation as such a secret? It was a terrible situation but every year that passes just make him seem even more guilty of whatever nefariousness is going on**_

In this universe Gary and Blue yes are cousins, their fathers are brothers. Gary definitely went through a jerk phase. Yeah, Blue is pretty much just like his cousin was, being born in a famous family with admiration and wealth constantly surrounding you can definitely turn a person into a jerk. The parents of Blue and Gary will eventually be making an appearance but not much of one as they serve little purpose to the story, you can see how Gary and Blue became who they were without meeting their parents but plans could change. Green will be pretty important but of the four main characters, I would say she will have the smallest role to play, though not by much. She will get a backstory as well, just later in the story.

-Evy Sevin

deltakid4 chapter 5 . Nov 7, 2018

 _ **another good chapter**_

Thank you again for your kind words!

-Evy Sevin

Katske chapter 5 . Mar 26

 _ **Kids will be kids. not necessarily a good thing, but it is nice to see children written as children, with all their flaws included. And wow, Scarlet, it's not nice, but I understand why everyone calls you crazy. There is no designated mourning period and everyone is different, but after six years you can tell how well someone has handled their grief. And wow, purposely keeping her son down in an attempt to force him to choose what she wants him to instead of letting him make an informed decision himself. It might work for those without strong feelings on the matter but all she did was make sure her own son was woefully under prepared for the dangerous world he is determined to enter. Way to go mom. The best way to keep someone safe is to make sure they understand what they are getting into. Ignorance in this case is in no way a safety net. And her reaction to this determination is to push him away further in the hope he will come crawling back. For all her talk about family, she really does not know her own son. And besides all that, they live in the world of POKEMON, it's not safe to know NOTHING of the creatures that populate the world.**_

 _ **So far not liking Green, but I guess Blue does need his own clique. Full of jerks. But it does happen.**_

 _ **I like how you address the fact that it really isn't safe for newbie trainers and their brand new starter pokemon to wander the wilderness alone. That's always bothered me.**_

Thank you for your wonderful review. I am glad that you felt the kids were portrayed well as that is something that I am constantly worried about doing. Too often I read books where teenagers or even little children are written as if they are adults and it often takes me completely out of the story. Sadly there are a great number of mothers like Scarlet who, out of codependence, keep their children down so they won't be left behind (fathers too). I completely agree with how terrible it is though and part of this story is showing someone overcome such a disadvantage and what it does to that person. I hope you have begun to appreciate Green a little more in this chapter and the last but I understand the dislike she is a prickly character. Newbie trainers just setting off on their own with newbie Pokemon never made sense to me either.

-Evy Sevin

Katske chapter 6 . Mar 26

 _ **When I got the update notification and pulled up your story, I couldn't believe how few reviews and favorites this has. I mean, WHAT!? It's well written, no terrible grammar, the story has good flow, an interesting plot that so far doesn't seem a carbon copy of others I've read (a LOT), full of interesting characters and a set up for plenty of surprises in the future. How can this fic have so little recognition? Where's the LOVE?!**_

 _ **I don't normally, but from now on I'm going to review every chapter to up the review counter so hopefully more people will be able to take notice of this epic in the making. It deserves to be read and appreciated and this is not a small fandom, I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands who would appreciate another good Pokemon journey.**_

 _ **Thank you for writing this and I look forward to where Red goes from here**_

Wow! I really appreciate your enthusiasm and willingness to review, it is really hard to get someone to review even a short chapter it seems these days. I hope this catches on because I love the world of Pokemon and would love to talk about it with other fans. Looking forward to hearing what more you have to say! Thank you so much for joining me on my Pokemon journey!

-Evy Sevin


	10. I Choose You!: Xanadu

**Chapter 8:**

 **5/26 Xanadu**

The Bulbasaur and Bellsprouts were gently wrapping vines around Red just as Florinda reappeared with some sort of spray that looked suspiciously like a potion. "They can carry him far gentler than any human could. Now, I could really use some help with him. Who knows him the best?"

Green and Blue both looked at Yellow with tired eyes. Florinda followed their gaze to the young blonde trainer.

"Will you come to help me?"

Yellow nodded silently and they both disappeared into the foliage along with Red and the Grass-type Pokemon.

Exhaustion suddenly settled into the bones of the remaining Green and Blue, they looked at each other with heavy bloodshot eyes. They were less than twenty-four hours into their journey and already one of them was gravely injured, they were being pursued by the largest known criminal organization, and one of them had already had their Pokemon stolen, nevermind they had risked life and limb to get them back. They both slumped onto the single bench as the sun began to rise outside.

"Other trainers can't have had it this difficult," Green groaned, rubbing her tired eyes. The beautiful smells of the greenhouse had a quieting effect on her, always had. Probably didn't help that there were likely minute sleep powder particles in the air, along with stun spore and all sorts of Grass Pokemon related particles.

"Other trainers don't have Red along with them," Blue sniped. His patience was spent.

"I kinda have to agree with you," Green said slowly. "But not while he might die at any moment."

Blue rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"No, come one. I want to hear it."

"I said I'm not that lucky, okay!"

"Oh wow! Just, wow." Green looked at Blue in shock. "You are seriously messed up you know that, right? You don't just wish for people to die because they are irritating! I knew you didn't like him, I don't either, but just wow."

Green got up and walked away not wanting to even give him a backward glance. Blue, for once, knew he was in the wrong. Green didn't understand, Red wasn't just irritating, there was more to it than that. Still. He watched Green fade into plants. She was right this time, even if Red had stolen his grandfather's attention and got more of the old man's love than him, that wasn't sufficient cause to wish him to die.

Blue cursed silently to himself.

Green wandered about for a bit amongst the flowers and leaves of the greenhouse, it had always helped clear her thoughts, even when she was a small child. She brushed her fingertips across some tomato leaves, they were soft and slightly fuzzy. What was she doing? Had she made the right choice? Already, as usual, she had made more enemies than friends. What was wrong with her?

She found herself suddenly at the large glass double front doors. A weak sun could be seen just warming up the vines growing over the glass dome structure. It was a beautiful place. As she stood in a daze an elderly lady walked through the front door, in her left hand she carried a sickly looking little Oddish while her right leaned on a cane.

"Oh!" Green suddenly realized she wasn't alone. In an old habit, she rushed forward and took the Oddish from the old woman's shaky grasp.

"Do you work here?"

"Not exactly," Green started to explain.

"Then what are you doing with my Oddish?"

"I'm sorry. I was practically raised here and so I used to help out with all the customers, old habit."

"I'll take it from here," a young man suddenly showed himself from somewhere behind Green.

"Okay, Potter," Green didn't even need to look at the young man to recognize him. "I was just trying to help."

"I know, Green."

Another customer came in seconds later just as Blue was making his way toward her. Green gasped at the sight of the newest visitor. She was beautiful! She had dark shoulder length hair that was combed to perfection with a small adornment of flowers and berries, but what really made her stand out was her classic-style kimono. It was intricately sewn with a gorgeous garden scene, a broad blue belt kept it in perfect shape. Carried in the air with her was an elegant fresh scent of wildflowers and cut grass. It was almost intoxicating. Blue seemed to agree as he smiled stupidly next to her.

"Are the owners here?" the woman asked with perfect elocution.

"The proprietors are currently occupied with other customers but we'd be more than happy to help you," Blue volunteered them both.

"Wonderful," the woman smiled without skipping a beat. "I am extracting the essence of stun spore but my poor Gloom hates it ever so much. Do you have something that can calm him while I conduct the procedure?"

"Right this way," Green found her mind calming as she directed the customer deeper into the greenhouse.

 **Elsewhere in the Greenhouse**

Red lay prone on the cold metal table usually reserved for delicate procedures of fertilizing certain plants and working on sick Pokemon. Red's blood had trickled from his ribs and was pooling on the tabletop. Florinda had removed his shirt immediately and was now mixing some sort of acrid smelling poultice as she had Yellow holding a sterilized cloth to the wound. For a plant lady, Florinda seemed to know a lot about healing people.

Yellow told her as much. "Well, that was what first got me into plants. I wanted to be a nurse but the more I studied the more I became fascinated with actually creating and making medicines to help people. Most of our modern medicines still have some sort of plant or poison base."

"So now you help Grass-Type Pokemon instead of people?"

"More like both at the same time. You can ask Green all about it."

Yellow made a face.

"Aw, now, don't be too hard on Green. I know she can come off as a bit rough around the edges but she hasn't exactly had it easy."

"What do you mean?"

"What did Green tell you about this place?"

"Nothing much, just that she had been coming here since childhood."

"And why do you think she spent so much of her childhood here rather than at home? Hmm? Her father was a businessman, busy, always busy and away. Her mother, well her mother was constantly bitter and angry that her husband was away and didn't trust him to be faithful either. She had five loud needy attention-driven children, all of them like her in that way, and she took out all her frustration about her husband, about the kids, on the easiest target she had, her youngest daughter."

"Green?"

Florinda nodded grimly as she took the blood-soaked cloth from Yellow's hands and replaced it with a steaming hot new one, one side covered in the dark green poultice that she had been preparing.

"That wasn't even the worst of it." Florinda continued her story to cover up Red's unconscious moaning. "Picking up on their mother's bad behavior her four elder siblings began to abuse her too. It never stopped, if it wasn't her cold, demanding cruel mother than it was her frustrated angry siblings."

"No wonder she was here so much." Yellow missed her parents terribly. The thought of having parents who didn't love her, who abused and tormented her caused a shiver to tremble down her spine. Poor Green. It also made sense why she had chosen Bulbasaur despite her apparent sneaky nature, Bulbasaurs were anything but sneaky.

Perhaps she had been a bit too hard on Green, after all, appearances could be deceiving. Yellow kept the compress down hard while Florinda wrapped a long white bandage around Red's torso. Only a little blood oozed from the wound as they finished tying the bandage into place and covering Red with a warm blanket.

 **Outside Xanadu, a few moments ago**

Several Team Rocket grunts snuck closer toward the large greenhouse. The four little punks who had taken their hard-earned prizes from them had to be holed up in there. They glanced at each other, no one seemed to be overly familiar with the greenhouse. It could be practically empty or it could be teeming with workers who were also Grass-Type Pokemon trainers. They couldn't let those little newb punks get away with mortally wounding one of their own. There was no way John survived the day.

"Okay," Burt, their current leader, said. "I doubt there is anyone inside who could take the five of us at once. Even those little punks just got lucky and caught John completely off guard or he would have had them."

"So, what's the plan?" Brandon, stupid Brandon was always annoying Burt with questions.

"I say we go in there, grab the kids and bring them back to the boss," Burt thought fast. "The boss wouldn't want anyone to survive after killing a member of Team Rocket! We have a reputation to protect. Anyone who crosses us must pay the price!"

"What if there are a bunch of trainers in there?"

"This is a quick smash and grab," Burt explained. "We go in there, grab the four kids and any Pokemon who might be within grabbing distance then we cheese it! No one will have time to react before we are out of there."

"I don't know."

"I do, now just shut up and let me do the thinking."

"Here comes somebody!" A warning from Tom, their lookout. They all silenced themselves and ducked behind the closest cover. They watched as a littled old lady shuffled into view. Burt rolled his eyes in annoyance. He was just about to call everyone out of the shadows when someone else appeared.

The first thing Burt noticed was how beautiful this new woman was. Dressed elegantly in traditional style with precise steps and her head held high. Now he was even more eager to invade the greenhouse.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, Burt brushed the fingers aside but they were insistent. Finally, he angrily but silently turned to the man intruding on his lusty thoughts. What the hell could Brandon want now?

Brandon was making a cutting gesture across his throat and shaking his head in a negative gesture. What was the matter with Brandon? Didn't he want to pull off a heist right in front of a beautiful woman? Brandon began mouthing something but Burt was having a hard time making it out.

"Farigut?" he finally whispered at Brandon in frustration.

"Erika!" Brandon practically shouted at him. "That was freaking Erika, you know the Gym Leader who could totally destroy all of us with just one of her Grass-Type Pokemon. Erika the beautiful lady of every trainer's nightmares!"

Burt turned wide-eyed back to the greenhouse. Perhaps they could let this maybe not quite so grievous insult slide just this one time. There was no reason for all of them to be caught or worse all for John. He hadn't even been that good of a leader. Burt turned when he realized all eyes were on him.

"Maybe we should report back to Giovanni before we make any rash decisions," Burt finally blurted out. His companions seem to agree with him as they immediately slunk away into the woods surrounding the nursery.

It was a good thing they had left as quickly as they did because Erika emerged from the greenhouse just a few moments later and was gone.

Back inside the greenhouse Blue and Green were still watching as their elegantly dressed customer faded from view. They didn't notice Yellow and Florinda joining them from the back of the greenhouse, both of them drying recently washed hands.

"He's going to be alright," Florinda suddenly proclaimed. Causing the two young trainers to jump and turn to face her. "He'll heal alright but he needs some rest before he can get going again. It looks like you all do."

"Do you have beds or something for us to sleep in?" Blue asked groggily, suddenly nothing sounded more tempting to him than the feeling of sliding between some cool sheets and closing his eyes.

"First you should eat, then rest," Potter said as he joined Florinda's side with Yellow. "I've got some breakfast made. Come, eat!"

Yellow and Green stumbled after the brown-haired man but Blue stayed in place, Florinda's eyes were asking him to stay. Maybe things weren't as good with Red as she had said they were and she was reluctant to tell the others. Obviously, he could handle the news better than the other two.

"You didn't seem to care when I proclaimed Red to be on the mend," Florinda eyed him with something akin to suspicion.

"Look, it's not like Red and I are friends are anything, we've never gotten along," Blue explained with a shrug.

"Listen, Blue, I know you are Professor Oak's grandson, I know you are talented and you must think the world of yourself. But you need to realize no matter how good you think you are, you are still new, you still would stand no chance at all if you went out on your own right now. Either Team Rocket or some wild Pokemon would chew you up and spit you out, you need them, all of them! Don't you forget that!"

Blue stared up at her in surprise. How could she have known what he was thinking? How could she have known he was planning to leave the three losers as soon as he got some rest before they woke up? Still, what did she know? He was better than she ever had been he was willing to bet.

"Blue, no matter how good you are there is always someone better," Florinda said with a sigh, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're good at what you do but even the best can't stand up to Team Rocket alone."

Was she saying they needed him as much as he needed them? She was probably right. If he left it was likely Red would be dead before sundown and surely Yellow and Green wouldn't be that far behind him as their numbers dwindled. How annoying. He was going to have to keep watching the annoying newbs for a while longer.

"Let's go eat," Florinda pulled him toward the dining room as if reading his mind again.

"There you are, Blue!" Green called out to him as they entered. "Look at what I took from Team Rocket!"

Held up in her hands, obviously uncomfortable, was a female Nidoran. Blue had to laugh. Team Rocket had tried to steal from them but instead, they had ended stealing from Team Rocket. Soon they were all giggling while Green grinned proudly. The female Nidoran called weakly then sighed.

UTOPIAN ANGEL chapter 9 . 25m ago

 _ **wow, violence in a pokemon story! Nice!**_

 _ **Also please please please do not do what many authors do and make Blue and Green complete jerks!**_

 _ **I mean right now, it's good bc its only the beginning. But a lot of the other stories I've read don't give them any character development. Hopefully, that's not the case with you bc this story is really good!**_

Thanks! Violence only makes sense in a battling based world. I hope this chapter shows you that I am definitely planning on giving Blue and Green some character growth. I hate stagnant characters. Thank you for your kind words and I hope you enjoyed this next installment.

-Evy Sevin


	11. I Choose You!: Meet the Boss

**Chapter 9:**

 **5/27 Meet the Boss**

Team Rocket Headquarters was well hidden deep within Kanto, not actually that far from Pallet Town or the Xanadu Nursery. It was a tall steel building with armored walls and numerous satellite dishes. Madame Boss had started its construction seven years ago and had planned for there to be an enormous red "R" painted on the front. That was the one change that Giovanni had made, no "R", they were criminals no use in advertising themselves. It stood high on a rocky outcropping surrounded by stony hills. It was lucky for them that the area was pretty heavily forested or it would have been easy to spot for some distance. Displays of riches and power had been Madame Boss' weakness.

Inside two young Team Rocket agents stood nervously outside a steel door, clearly marked on the outside "BOSS". Truly it had been designed for Madame Boss, but she had never gotten to use it, and Giovanni couldn't bring himself to change it. Besides, he kind of liked it. The waiting room they were in was sparse with no real decorations to speak of except a couple of uncomfortable steel benches.

"What do you think the Boss wants with us, Jessie?" the purple haired young man turned to his red-haired friend.

"I don't know, James, how am I supposed to know?" she sniped impatiently. James didn't seem to mind her snapping at him. He just stared nervously at the door they were waiting to open.

"I'm sure this is probably Botch's fault," James frowned.

"It's Butch, how do you never get that right? That can't be true though, Cassidy is clearly the brains of the two, if it's anyone's fault I'm sure it's hers." Jessie corrected him. "God! I hate her with her blond pigtails and arrogant attitude!"

"It's Biff, he's the sneaky one!"

"Botch."

"Fine, Buzz, whatever, he's the sneaky one!"

The door opened and the two immediately fell silent. A Team Rocket grunt stood in the doorway eyes them with obvious disdain. "The boss will see you now." The two shuffled nervously past him as he rolled his eyes in their direction. _Why in the hell does the Boss have a soft spot in his heart for those two? Any other Team Rocket member would have been . . . taken care of by now._

The door shut loudly behind Jessie and James as they slowly approached the large mahogany desk that stood before them. The large comfortable office chair was turned around so that their Boss couldn't be seen. James' stomach sunk even lower than it already was, which he hadn't thought was possible. He hated it when Giovanni started their little "meetings" with his back to them, it never bodes well.

"Jessie," the Boss finally said as he slowly turned around, his voice low and ominous. "You disappoint me. I took you in when you were orphaned six years ago."

"I know, I'm sorry," Jessie started but the Boss frowned down at her and she shut up. He was about the only person who could do that to her.

"When I did that it wasn't out of charity, or the goodness of my heart, as you should know. I did it because I expected some sort of recompense for my actions. I was supposed to get your loyalty and success in return. Once again you have failed to deliver on your end of this relationship, haven't you?"

"Sir! It's because we have to suffer at the hands of fools and those that are jealous of my beauty and James' charisma with Pokemon!"

Giovanni didn't look like she believed her.

"Let us lead our own mission. Give us a chance to do something without someone else bossing us around and we will not disappoint you, I swear it!" Jessie had approached the expensive desk and was leaning over it to get closer to Giovanni so he could see the fire in her eyes. James stood rooted to the spot, trembling.

"I wonder," Giovanni looked at the young man who hadn't said a word. "If your little friend over there has been holding you back."

"James? No! Sir, he is the one who is great with Pokemon and takes care of the little things so that I can focus on the big picture."

"You had better hope so, as I do intend to collect on your debt with me, whether it be in the form of your success, or in the form of a meal for my Persian." The large predatory-cat like Pokemon had gone unnoticed curled in a ball under Giovanni's desk. As if understanding the implication of Giovanni's words the Persian took to its feet and let loose a low menacing growl as it slinked around the desk.

"Absolutely sir," Just give us a chance to prove it to you, right James?" Jessie glared over her shoulder at her terrified partner. His gaze was stuck on the menacing Persian stalking toward him. " _Right,_ James!" She reached back poked him hard with a pointed finger.

"Y-y-yes!" James blurted out, his gaze still stuck on the Boss' feline partner.

Giovanni sighed and steepled his fingers, Persian sense his change in intensity and gave another low growl before turning and rejoining Giovanni's side. "I have a mission for you then."

Jessie backed off ever so slightly and James returned his gaze to Giovanni's face.

"Team Rocket has been in the Pallet Town region, unfortunately, they were spotted by four new trainers likely from Pallet Town on their way to Viridian City. The work we are doing over there is of the utmost secrecy and we can't afford anyone even knowing we are delving into the region. I want the two of you to head over to Viridian City and find them before they can tell anyone what they have seen."

"We can't afford four unsolved murders in the area either so I need you to scare them back home or find some other way to guarantee their silence without calling attention to yourselves. Remember the whole point of this operation is secrecy, do not let yourselves be discovered and most certainly don't tell anyone who you are."

"Yes, sir!" the two young criminals saluted in unison.

"Since neither of you has caught a pokemon since the first one that we gave you to start out I will be lending another one to you. I still expect you to come back with at least ten new Pokemon as I expect from everyone else on their missions."

Giovanni took a Pokeball from a desk drawer and tossed it to Jessie. The redhead caught it easily. She pushed the button, unable to wait and see what he had given them. With a flash, a Meowth appeared in their midst. From the look on Jessie's face, she wasn't all that impressed but James was starry-eyed.

The cat-like Pokemon paused licking itself and looked at its new owners with only mild interest before turning back to resume grooming. James caught up in his excitement momentarily forgot Giovanni was watching and squealed scooping the Meowth up in his arms. With a growl, the Meowth took one quick swipe across James' face.

Startled the young criminal dropped the Meowth. Jessie blushed as she saw disapproval pass over Giovanni's face. With a flash, she retrieved the irritable Meowth back into its Pokeball. She grabbed her still shocked friend by the elbow.

"Let's get packing, James," Jessie's voice betrayed her underlying irritation. "We've wasted enough of the Boss' time."

The two hurried out of the office, the grunt that had allowed them in returned to join Giovanni in his office. He wasn't quite a simple Team Rocket grunt, he had been with organization clear back when it had been run by Madame Boss. There were few left who could make that claim. The hazards of the job were serious.

"I don't understand what it is you find acceptable about those two buffoons," the man motioned toward the door where Jessie and James had exited. "They couldn't take care of a rock, let along an important mission."

"Are you questioning my decisions?" Giovanni asked quietly, turning slowly and staring the long-time grunt eye.

"No!" sweat suddenly poured from the man's pores as adrenaline surged through his system. "Only an idiot would question your decisions." The man laughed nervously. Giovanni didn't respond or move.

"I just was hoping to gain some understanding," the grunt continued to try and backtrack. "I was confused."

Giovanni stared at him without blinking. "Persian, don't kill him, he might still prove useful someday."

"No!" the man screamed and turned, sprinting toward the door.

He didn't stand a chance.

Persian leaped from behind the desk and landed directly on the grunt's back. The man fell, the air _whooshing_ from his lungs. He tried to suck in air but before he could suck in enough air the Persian bit down on his collar bone. It heard it snap. Pain exploded from his collarbone and he screamed with what little air had made its way into his lungs. It let go only rake its great claws across his back, once, twice and finally a third time.

The assault paused for just a moment and the grunt began to scream in earnest, nothing existed in his mind but the pain. It consumed his very existence. The Persian had merely been enjoying the torture as now it grasped his leg in its powerful jaws and bit down. Another bone snapped under the pressure. With a toss of its head, the Persian sent the grunt tumbling through the air. He landed with a thud and paused his screams to catch his breath. The man moaned and tried to move away from the Persian stalking toward but his every movement was agony. The Persian leaped again and landed with a paw on his chest. It slowly pressed its considerable weight on his ribcage. He gasped as a couple of ribs popped.

"I need him to be able to speak, Persian," Giovanni said calmly. He had been making a note in his log on his desk during the attack.

Growling, the Persian took one last swipe at the grunt's head, knocking the man unconscious.

Giovanni pressed about on his desk phone. "Fisher!"

"Yes?" came a voice over the speaker.

"I have another mess for you and your partner to clean up in my office," Giovanni's voice filled with annoyance.

"Right away, sir!"

"Exactly."

The Persian finished licking the blood from its pale maw and returned to its position behind Giovanni's desk, curled up in a slumbering ball.

Giovanni scoured the newspaper for hints of Team Rocket as two grunts raced in with cleaning supplies and dragged the mauled grunt away, streaking blood across the floor. Good thing he knew they would be cleaning it right away. Only he was allowed to make a mess in his office and no one knew that better than his cleaners. He sighed with annoyance. Why did that grunt have to go and ruin his good mood?

 **END PART 2: I Choose You!**

 **Next:**

 **Part 3: Gym Badge**


	12. Gym Badge: Begin Again

**Ultimate Pokemon: Red Vol 1:**

 **The Adventure Begins**

 **Part 3:**

 **Gym Badge**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **5/29 Begin Again**

 **Xanadu Nursery**

The four young trainers looked much better than when they had arrived three days ago. For one, Red wasn't bleeding out and fading from consciousness. The rest of them were well rested and fed and it showed on their faces. Florinda had found them a small storage room to the side of the nursery, four cots had been laid out.

Blue had impatiently waited for Red to recover by pacing the room and a strict training regimen for his Pokemon. Green had enjoyed herself visiting with the people she considered to be her real family. Yellow had fussed over Red and stayed by his side, constantly offering food and water. Red was in great pain the first couple of days, he had been helped by some sort of elixir that distilled from stun spore, it numbed the pain and relaxed his muscles. Florinda had provided him with some extra to take on the journey, he would need it.

Blue was packing rapidly, obviously glad that Florinda had finally cleared Red for the journey. "Aren't you all ready to get out of here?"

"I'm gonna miss this place," Green told them absently.

"It is really nice, but I'm looking forward to getting to Viridian City," Yellow added in her two cents.

"We are way off course," Blue reminded them bitterly.

"Hey, Green," Florinda appeared in the doorway. "Do you have a second? Could we talk in private?"

"Sure."

Green followed Florinda out into the nursery and through the outer walkway to a section surrounded by trees and completely out of view of anyone else. What was going on? Green wasn't used to Florinda being this secretive.

"Green, I'm sorry to drag you all the way out here but I wanted to talk to you without any prying ears. I just wanted to tell you that I am so proud of you. You have become quite a young woman. I love you as if you were my own daughter but I've always known you weren't destined for something as quiet as the nursery. This group you're with, they're mostly good and worth giving a chance."

"Thank you," Green said simply. She was caught completely off-guard by Florinda's emotional confession. She was stunned. What was she supposed to say? She swallowed loudly and grasped for words.

"Don't worry, Green, I know how you feel," Florinda smiled gently and grasped her into a tight hug. "I know that you have a hard time trusting people, especially those who might be your friends, but Green promise me you'll give these other young people a chance. Let them be your friends, don't push them away."

Green still didn't know what to say.

"Promise me."

"Sure," Green tried to shrug nonchalantly but Florinda's words and stirred up all sorts of emotions she hadn't even been aware she had.

"That's my girl," Florinda let her go and smiled down at her again. "Now, you better go finish packing."

Green nodded and took off back to their temporary room.

Not ten minutes later the four teens were headed toward the nursery exit with bags on their backs and Pokeballs on their belts. Florinda and even Potter came out to see them off, waving, Florinda fighting back tears.

Green saw a single teardrop trickle its way down Florinda's smiling cheek and gulped. Now she had to fight back tears of her own. Florinda and Potter were more family to her than anyone she was related to. Now she wouldn't see them for a long time to come, not if she was going to become a trainer. A trainer they could be proud of.

"How come I never knew you were close with the owners of Xanadu?" Blue asked once they were out of earshot.

"That would be a super weird thing to brag about," Green answered but winced when her voice broke with barely contained emotion.

"Are you crying?" Blue asked incredulously.

"Wow, she is human," Red teased.

"Would you two knock it off already?" Yellow shot them both dirty looks. Blue shrugged it off but Red immediately felt guilty.

"We were just joking with her," Red defended.

"Yes, I can hear all the laughter," Yellow rolled her eyes and turned her back to them, marching on ahead.

"No need to be so upset," Blue shrugged. That just made Red feel worse, if Blue was on his side then he was on the wrong side.

Red jogged a little bit to get to Green's side. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

"It's fine," Green mumbled and shrugged.

"You're so brave and in control all the time I didn't think you would care," Red admitted to her.

"I said it's fine!" Green grouched at him, but her shoulders were no longer slumped and she was staring ahead instead of at her feet. That satisfied Red. Yellow shot a grateful look back at him, she had heard.

It was a couple of hours later when the trees slowly started to thin and they saw looming over them a large rocky singular peak.

"Is that Mount Hideaway?" Red asked. "We really are off course."

"No duh, genius," Blue snarked.

"We could try to use this to our advantage," Green said something for the first time in hours. "It's rumored that there are some rare and strong Pokemon on Mount Hideaway that you wouldn't find anywhere else near Pallet."

"Green is right," Yellow backed her up. "That rumor has been around since my dad was a kid."

"Well, let's see what we can find," Blue grinned. If he already had a rare Pokemon by the time he reached Viridian City his grandpa would have to recognize he was even better than Gary. It had taken Gary until Mount Moon to find a rare Pokemon. His three companions followed after him as he made his way toward Mount Hideaway. Of course they were, he was a natural leader, like most of his family.

Mount Hideaway was further than it looked and it took several hours to get to its foothills. It was around noon so they stopped and Red and Yellow fed their Pokemon that had been walking alongside them. Yellow fed Pikachu a homemade Pokemon food that she made herself. It was made with sesame seeds, rice, some seaweed, and Magikarp meat. She hated to buy any kind of Pokemon meat but Pikachu was omnivorous and needed the proteins and oils that they could only get from meat.

Red, on the other hand, was feeding Charmander whatever it was he had on hand for himself, some rice cakes, sushi that had been made by Florinda, and some Tauros jerky. Red was a little more practical about buying Pokemon meat. Charmander, of course, liked the jerky best. He shot a flame happily whenever Red tossed him a piece. Deep from Charmander's throat came a _thrumming_ sound not unlike a cat purring but deeper and more pronounced. Red rubbed Charmander's head behind his ear hole.

"See, that's why you'll never become a real contender," Blue suddenly interrupted the trainer and Pokemon.

"What are you blabbing on about?" Red asked, annoyed.

"You want to treat your Pokemon like a pet, not a champion. I would never waste time with petting my Squirtle."

"The poor thing."

"It doesn't care about affection as much as it does about pleasing me, and I will teach it how to make me happy, how to be a champion." Red rolled his eyes at Blue's impassioned tirade.

"Some of us see Pokemon as more than tools," Yellow chimed in as she rubbed Pikachu's head.

"Your loss."

"No," Yellow told him. "It's YOUR loss, we will get to see a side to our Pokemon that you will never see. We will have loyalty from our Pokemon that you could never have no matter how hard you train because our Pokemon will love us. Yours will just be afraid of you, or afraid of disappointing you, there's not much difference."

Blue rolled his eyes at her but caught a beaming look exchanged between her and Red. So the two losers had banded together against him. So what? He didn't need their approval or their friendship, he was going to be a Master. He glanced about. He spotted Green sitting alone in silence, her gaze far away. She had been distracted ever since they had left the Xanadu Nursery. Maybe he should help her refocus. He walked toward her. Before he could reach her she suddenly got up and walked away without so much as a glance his way. Blue could barely believe his eyes. She had completely ignored him.

Green had seen Blue from the corner of her eye but she had little care what he had to say to her. Florinda's words of love and support were still bouncing around inside her head. She had to become a trainer Florinda could still be proud of. She couldn't do that very well with nothing more than three Pokemon. Let the others take their lunch and play with their Pokemon, she had some capturing to do.

She didn't realize that Blue was following her. Out of sheer curiosity, Yellow and Red weren't far behind him. Green was trying to listen for even the smallest of sounds that might lead her to another Pokemon. She reflexively grabbed her Bulbasaur's Pokeball from her slim belt.

She stalked along a hillside a rocky hillside to her right and a hilly forest to her left, her companions following behind her as silently as possible. Her heart pounded mercilessly in her chest, she could swear the sound of it was chasing away any nearby Pokemon. As she listened with her ears and searched with her eyes she could feel sweat pop up all over her skin, the pressure of expectations and judgment weighed on her. What if she wasn't good enough? What if she turned out to be a disappointment?

A rustling sound came from above and Green froze. She glanced slowly up, a small cloud of dust came floating downward. Something was on the hillside. Hoping it wouldn't startle whatever it was up there she opened her Pokeball.

Bulbasaur appeared and before it could say anything she pressed a finger to her lips sternly. Bulbasaur understood and kept itself quiet. She pointed at the steep rocky hillside then shrugged. It was the best she could do without talking. Bulbasaur must have understood as he lashed his vines out and wrapped them quietly around some rocks and began to pull himself up without much noise.

Another rustling sound.

Everyone froze. Blue was just a foot behind Green now, he might be a jerk but he didn't mess with someone else's Pokemon hunt. Red and Yellow weren't far behind, watching with rapt attention. Bulbasaur pulled himself up slowly to the ledge where the rustling sound had come from, with a quick flick of his vines he launched himself up onto the ledge, out of sight. There was a flurry of noise, Green desperately tried to crawl up the steep slope. She needn't have bothered.

With a furious flapping of wings and long shrill cry, Bulbasaur fell to the ground below, one of his vines wrapped tightly around a Pidgey's leg. The bird Pokemon squawked furiously at all of the trainers as they surrounded the combatants. A couple of quick pecks from Pidgey and Bulbasaur withdrew its oozing vines. Pidgey shrieked and hopped angrily toward the recovering Bulbasaur, the tumble had done more damage to the heavier Pokemon. Bulbasaur scrambled to his feet to avoid the advancing Pidgey.

"Give him some direction!" Blue hissed at Green who was so absorbed in watching the battle she forgot she was supposed to be controlling it.

"Bulbasaur, jump back then aim for the Pidgey's head with vine whip!" Green commanded.

The Bulbasaur surprisingly seemed to understand her complex directions despite their short time together. The plant-type Pokemon jumped backward then shot a vine at the Pidgey's head. The bird dodged the attack but Bulbasaur persisted in his attack.

"Now get his feet!" Green shouted.

Bulbasaur shot his second vine forward and snaked it around one of the Pidgey's legs. The bird turned to peck at the vine around its leg but that was the opening that Bulbasaur needed. Once twice and even a third time Bulbasaur's vine smacked the Pidgey about the head, stunning the bird-like Pokemon.

He looked back at Green who nodded wordlessly at her Pokemon. The Bulbasaur dropped the dazed Pidgey. Green threw a Pokeball and with a flash Pidgey was inside of it. It was so stunned it didn't even struggle against the Pokeball.

"Yes!" Green ran forward and grabbed her now full Pokeball. "That's four, I've got at least double the number of Pokemon any of you have!"

"That's not saying much," Blue groused. "Don't get too excited over it, Green, it's just a Pidgey."

"None of the rest of you have a Nidoran!" Green pointed out. Behind her Yellow rolled her eyes comedically and Red giggled.

Green spun, "You're all just jealous."

"What was that?" Blue asked, putting a hand to his ear.

"Nice try."

"No, listen. I think I just heard another Pokemon."

"You think a Pokemon stuck around while we stood here shouting at each other?" Yellow was incredulous.

"I don't know all I can say is I think I heard one."

"What did it sound like?" Red, ever eager to catch more Pokemon, inquired.

"It had to be some kind of bird-type the way it sounded, but it wasn't a Pidgey. It sounded bigger."

The other three looked at each other disbelievingly. Blue didn't even notice, he was too busy trying to spot the Pokemon he had heard. He wouldn't have cared anyway, their opinion meant nothing to him. He had thought Green might have been someone to watch but after seeing the way she had wasted time at Xanadu he doubted she would ever amount to much, too sentimental. Then they heard it too.

"You're right," Yellow declared with surprise. "That is no Pidgey. I know exactly what that is, that's a Spearow."

Blue grinned. "It's mine!"

Now that they heard it again the Pokemon wasn't that hard to find. It was hopping angrily along a branch watching them with glaring eyes. Unlike most Pokemon when they noticed it didn't flee. In fact, if Blue didn't know any better he'd say that the Pokemon was challenging them.

"Alright," Blue grinned even wider. "I like the Pokemon with some fight in them. Squirtle, go!"

His turtle-like Pokemon shook its head as if it were just awaking then spotted the Spearow on the branch above them. Without a need for a command, Squirtle shot a strong thin stream of water at the Spearow. It took wing just in time to avoid his shot. Instead of flying away it dove for the Squirtle, talons extended.

Not the fastest Pokemon, Squirtle dove aside barely in time to avoid the attack. Squirtle regained its feet and scanned for the Spearow. It was climbing high into the air. Squirtle shot another stream of water at her opponent but it didn't reach. Spearow wheeled in mid-air and dove straight for them. If it got up enough speed it could be deadly for Blue's little turtle Pokemon.

"Get in your shell!" Blue shouted at his frozen Pokemon. Responding quickly the Pokemon's head limbs and tail disappeared. With a furious flapping of its wings, Spearow slowed its descent just in time claw at Squirtle's shell before rocketing away. Immediately Squirtle popped back out of her shell and blasted the fleeing Spearow with a massive stream of high-pressure water.

With a shocked cry, Spearow tumbled from the air. With an undignified _plop,_ Spearow landed on the ground in a tangle of feathers and talons. Spearow righted itself and began to flap away but Squirtle blasted it with more water. Furious, the Spearow turned a baleful eye on its opponent and rushed Squirtle while flapping its wet wings.

"One more time, Squirtle!" Blue shouted triumphantly. Another jet of water smacked Spearow full in the face. Before it could recover Blue threw a Pokeball. Accurate, as always, the Pokeball flashed and Spearow disappeared within. The front button flashed rapidly, then, to everyone's surprise, the Pokeball burst open and Spearow reappeared with a triumphant cry of its own.

"What the hell?" Blue couldn't believe it. "Squirtle, headbutt."

The water-logged Spearow tried to take wing but it was simply too wet. Squirtle slammed into Spearow's belly, driving the wind from its lungs. Determined, Blue threw another Pokeball. Spearow disappeared again.

The Pokeball's button flashed rapidly again. "Come on!" Blue shouted impatiently. The button kept flashing. Blue rolled his eyes. It was still flashing. Blue growled and went to grab it anyway. At the last second, it stopped and the button went green.

"Finally!" Blue groused. Red smirked and Green giggled. "What are you smiling about, Red? All you've got is a Pidgey. Spearow would wipe the floor with it."

"The day is just getting started," Red said. "By the end of the day, I'll have another Pokemon."

"You wanna bet on that?"

Yellow rolled her eyes. "Let's get moving."

Deciding that she was right Blue recalled his Squirtle and shouldered his backpack, shooting Red an annoyed look. Red always had to turn everything into an argument, it wasn't Blue's fault that Red couldn't accept the truth. Blue had been seeing Red his whole life, or near enough, since they were both six grandpa had been obsessed with Red and Blue had no idea why. There was nothing special about Red.

Blue waited as Green walked over to where she had left her own pack. Then they left together. Blue couldn't wait until he was strong enough to leave these bozos behind. So far he knew his three Pokemon couldn't cut it. If he ran into a wild Onix, for example, he would just get crushed along with his Pokemon.

Almost as if on queue, there was a shout and a loud roar above them. They all looked up the steep rocky slope above them. A shirtless man with long wild dark hair and a karate gi, or at least the bottom half of it, was using a Sandslash to try and catch a massive Onix just coming out of a cave.

They all paused and watched in awe as the man shouted instructions to his Pokemon and the three-foot Sandslash leaped at the massive Onix. The Sandslash moved with a speed that belied his squat shape and short limbs.

"That has to be some kind of Master up there," Red breathed in awe. Blue rolled his eyes but went right back to watching the battle with his companions. The Onix had fully exited the cave now and it revealed itself to be much longer than the average twenty-eight feet and looked to be almost forty feet in length.

This didn't seem to daunt the man's Sandslash who launched itself at the huge rock creature. It slashed at the large creature, but it didn't seem too effective. The Onix's roar echoed down to them. It turned to bite at the Sandslash but stopped short, on the ledge Onix's maneuverability was limited. Whoever that was up there knew exactly what they were doing. The overly large Onix was even more limited than a normal one would have been. That was when Sandslash pulled out its power moves. It attacked the midsection of the Onix with Iron Tail. Dust and pebbles came sliding down from the fight.

Yellow stepped back, her heart in her throat. "Get away from there!" she warned her friends. Red turned, clearly, he had heard the panic in her voice.

"What's the matter?"

"Get away from there!" Pikachu cried loudly with her. Green and Blue looked back at her with annoyance in their eyes then turned back to watch the battle above them. Yellow's eyes were filling with tears, her heart was pounding so it felt as if it would explode. Pikachu rubbed a cheek soothingly against hers.

Red thankfully didn't ignore her. He turned from the battle and walked toward her. "Yellow, what's going on?"

"We need to get away from here! I've seen this happen before and . . . and we could get killed!" Her voice was hysterical, she was screeching. This was not like the Yellow that Red had gotten to know over the past week.

More dust and small rocks fell when Sandslash landed a Focus Blast, evoking another earth-shaking roar from the giant Onix. Red glanced as Yellow's eyes grew impossibly wider at the sight of the falling pebbles. Pikachu let out a shrill cry.

"Hey guys, maybe you should just take a few steps back, just in case," Red advised Blue and Green.

"Shut up, Red."

Red sneered, Blue was such a jerk. Yellow grabbed his arm with a grip that was tighter than a vice. "We have to go!" Pikachu seemed to agree with her, it glanced in fear at the tumbling small rocks.

"Yeah, okay," Red agreed. If nothing else he had to get Yellow away from the battle just to get her to calm down and explain what was going on with her. "Let's go."

The two turned and followed the trail away into the forested area that surrounded Mount Hideaway, Charmander following them reluctantly. It had enjoyed watching the battle, it might learn something from it. Soon the trees muffled the sound of the battle and the other two in their group were also out of view. Red turned to Yellow, her eyes were still wide and her breathing was close to hyperventilating. Pikachu was squeaking comfortingly while rubbing against Yellow's face.

"It's okay, we're away from the battle now, Yellow. Breathe, we're out of danger. I listened to you and we got away."

"I'm not sure we're far enough," Yellow gasped. Pikachu made a sound almost like purring and touched his nose to her cheek. Yellow didn't even seem to notice. Red took her off the trail into the woods, further away from the rocky peak.

"Just tell me what happened, what you saw before," Red kept his voice even and low to hopefully help calm his friend.

Yellow burst into tears.

Red hugged her to his side and rubbed her shoulder. "Don't cry, it's okay, we are safe, thanks to you."

Red was so busy consoling Yellow that he failed to notice that they had wandered right into a pack of napping Nidoran. Yellow's crying startled them all awake. The startled Nidoran scattered. Two, a male and female, stayed behind to by their pack members time to escape these loud humans.

Spotting the danger Pikachu leaped from Yellow's shoulder down to stand between Yellow and the advancing Nidoran, the hairs on Pikachu's back stood on end. Charmander hurried on his hind legs to join the electric mouse.

With an angry cry, the male Nidoran charged toward, kicking up dirt and dead leaves from the forest floor. Pikachu leaped up and sent a brilliant yellow shockwave toward the young Nidoran male. The shockwave struck and knocked the defending Pokemon onto the ground but the female simply leaped over her fallen compatriot and resumed the charge that he had started.

Pikachu needed a second to recharge. Somehow understanding this Charmander stepped in front of the yellow rodent Pokemon and breathed a burst of red-hot flames from his mouth. The female Nidoran cried and fell back, but by then the male had regained his feet and advanced slowly toward them once more.

Pikachu wasn't one to be left out. Having recharged enough for another attack he leaped onto Charmander's head and both Pokemon let loose a blast at both the Nidoran. When the fire blast and electric attack met there was a small explosion. Yellow had become so entranced in the impromptu battle that she had forgotten all about her moment of panic mere seconds ago. She covered her eyes just in time to avoid the dirt and pebbles that went flying past her face. Red wasn't quite so lucky. He snarled as dirt and grit entered his eyes and nostrils painfully. Yellow was too interested in the battle to notice.

It was over.

Both Nidorans lay unconscious on the forest floor. "Whoa!" the two heard from behind them.

Blue stood looking on in awe. Yellow and Blue grinned at each other, good thing Blue had no idea either of them had said a word during the entire battle. He would discount their win as 'luck'. Both of them threw Pokeballs at the two Nidoran, Yellow aimed for the female while Red favored the more spiky male. There was a flash and by the time they approached their respective Pokeballs, the two Nidoran were caught.

The two gave each other a high-five. "Great job!" they cried in unison and reached out to hug their Pokemon. Red held Charmander tight, despite his flaming tail. Yellow and Pikachu cuddled and Yellow finally smiled.

"What was that all about earlier?" Blue interrupted their momentary joy.

"I've seen people die watching a battle above them on a mountainside, it caused a rockslide," Yellow said, suddenly somber, able to say it without freaking out now that everyone was out of danger.

"How oddly specific," Green noted.

"Okay, you two have caught Pokemon, let's get going," Blue looked regretfully over his shoulder where the still raging battle was hiding from view.

Seven Hours Later . . .

Once more their tents were facing inward toward the campfire in a circle. The woods were far from silent around them but thank goodness there had been no explosions. The four sat half in and half out of their tents. All of them were exhausted from hiking up and down mountainous trails, clambering over rocks and fallen trees.

"Hey, Green, I think I hear a Nidoran, do you wanna go get it? It might be a male for your female to enjoy. You wanna go capture it?

"Grow up!" Green rolled her eyes and tossed a thing little twig at him. Blue caught it and smiled. She was camped to Blue's right and next to Red with Yellow between him and Blue. Green was fighting heavy eyelids.

"Do you think something might attack our camp in the night?" Yellow asked nervously. She knew she was going to sleep deep tonight and in the forest that could be very dangerous indeed.

"Not likely," Blue intoned. "The only Pokemon attracted to flames are fire Pokemon and there aren't any near here."

"Well, then I am going to bed," Green pronounced and scooted backward until she was fully encased in her tent then zipped it up.

"Me too," Blue yawned and pulled the same maneuver.

Yellow watched as Red sat in silence, pensively staring into the flames. She wondered what he was thinking about so deeply about. His Charmander was curled up at his side, cuddled up against Red and snoozing away.

"Red," Yellow began, not sure how to proceed.

"Hm?" Red asked without taking his eyes from the dancing flames.

"It was my family that died from the landslide," Yellow blurted out.

Red turned toward her, his face surprised. "That's how you lost your parents?"

"Yes, there was a beautiful battle above us. Some trainers with some really powerful Pokemon, you could see their energy from miles away. We stopped and stared, just for a moment, and suddenly a landslide hit us, it took us completely by surprise. I was lucky to have survived."

"I lost my dad to a landslide too," Red told her in a quiet voice.

"What?" Yellow asked after a second. "Red, everyone knows your father was killed by Team Rocket."

"What?" Red turned to her, his face filled with disbelief.

"Didn't you know? Everybody knows that your father died saving Professor Oak and his assistants, I figured that was why he gave you a license, I thought."

"My mom told me he died in a landslide."

"Red, I'm so sorry," Yellow didn't know what else to say.

"She raised me with a lie my entire life!" Red stated in shock. He stared back into the flames, his face still slack with disbelief.

After a while of awkward silence, Yellow slinked back into her tent and cuddled up with Pikachu. Red sat and stared at the fire for a long time, his mind racing. Why would his mother lie about his father's death? What exactly had happened to his father? Why had Team Rocket killed him? Thoughts swirled in his head as ethereal and destructive as the fire he stared into. He picked up a stick and broke it angrily then tossed it into the fire to watch it burn. When that wasn't enough to assuage his anger picked up a small stone and hurled it as hard as he could into the shadows of the forest.

The commotion woke Charmander he whined at him, curious. "I'm sorry Charmander, I shouldn't have woken you. Let's get to bed."

Charmander happily curled up in front of Red's tent, both of them worried that his tail flame would catch the tent on fire in his sleep. Red lay with his head poking out of the tent and touching Charmander's warm body. He stared up at the stars and breathed out a long sight. Charmander stirred. Red patted him then fell still, though he didn't sleep for some time.

 **Xanadu Nursery - Earlier**

Florinda stared at her captors in fright but determination. They were in their early to mid-twenties dressed in matching dark suits embossed with a large red "R" one was a girl with long red hair and the other a guy with purple hair. Florinda wasn't ignorant, she knew exactly what the outfits meant, they worked for Team Rocket.

The girl's Ekans had wrapped in its constricting coils and held Florinda still as the two interrogated her. The guy's Koffing floated behind them, waiting to do something. A Meowth stood in the doorway, keeping a lookout. It was too bad Potter was out collecting samples and shouldn't be back for some time.

"Listen, lady, if you just answer our questions we'll be out of here and you will be free," the young woman snarled.

The purple haired young man nodded, but he looked like he was going to be sick. Florinda couldn't help but notice he kept himself safely tucked away behind his more vocal companion.

"What do you want?"

"Yesterday you had four new trainers staying with you here at the Nursery," Jessie held up four fingers as if Florinda needed help counting. "We are trying to find them, so just tell us where they went and Ekans won't eat you."

"I never asked them but most trainers from Pallet Town head to Viridian City first, it's the closest Gym."

"Which route did they take?" Jessie asked as she leaned in closer to Florinda, glaring at her eye to eye. Florinda gulped, the fire in this young woman's eyes terrified her. She hadn't felt intimidated before but getting a close look of the redhead's eyes told her that she was just crazy enough to follow through on her threat. Her temper was barely held below the surface, ready to explode at the wrong words. Now Florinda was scared.

"I really don't know, they were headed North," Florinda tried.

Jessie gave Ekans a look and the snake Pokemon tightened its grip around her ribcage. Florinda gasped involuntarily. She could feel her face already starting to change red from the pressure and low oxygen intake.

"We know . . ." Jessie held her hand to her forehead and glared at the floor before returning her baleful gaze to Florinda. "We know that if they were heading to Viridian City than they would be headed North. There are several minor routes leading North from this area and Kanto National Route 1, which of them did the children take?"

Florinda shook her head with desperate wide eyes, she couldn't catch her breath enough to form words. She was starting to see stars.

"You are trying to tell me that these trainers stayed with you for three days and they never once happened to tell you which route they were going to take? Let her breathe for a second, Ekans."

Ekans loosened just enough to let her breathe, she gulped down air like water. Just as everything was beginning to return to normal Ekans squeezed again. Thankfully, not as tight as before.

"No, they wouldn't stop arguing, I don't think they had a plan," Florinda volunteered honestly.

Jessie's eyes narrowed dangerously but then relaxed. "Lucky for you, you old bag, I believe you."  
"Old?" Florinda knew it was a funny thing to focus on at the moment but there couldn't have been more than a couple of years difference between her and the red-head. Why had she called her an old bag? Was she insecure?

"Ekans, toss her," Jessie said dismissively. "James."

"Huh?" the young man came out of a daze.

Ekans squeezed the last vestiges of air remaining in Florinda's lungs then flung her away with a whip of its powerful tail. She went tumbling end over end, unable to draw in a breath until finally stopped as she rolled into a bush. She gasped for breath again. Stars flew through her vision, everything else was dim.

Jessie elbowed James rudely. "Oh yeah! Koffing, cover our escape!" The levitating purple ball spewed thick black smoke from its gaping mouth, filling the entry in seconds. Florinda coughed harder, the smoke was making it nearly impossible to get enough oxygen. By the time she had recovered her breath and vision, the two young criminals were long gone.

A Pidgey suddenly flew into view from the main garden area. She had taken care of when it had flown straight into their glass dome and then had decided to stay with them in the Nursery. The Pidgey cried loudly. A Squirtle came running from the garden and forced the front door open with its shell. Pidgey began flapping with such ferocity that the Koffing's smoke was soon clearing out of the dome. Florinda caught her breath and a Bulbasaur helped her sit up. She was going to be alright, but she was worried about Green and her friends. Why was Team Rocket after four novice trainers?


	13. Gym Badge: Samurai

**Chapter 2:**

 **5/30 Samurai**

 **Route 1**

"Come on, Charmander, I know you can make it even bigger!" Red shouted encouragingly at his fire Pokemon. "Catch your breath, then one more time for me!" His Charmander stood on a boulder facing a steep rocky slope that was now blackened by smoke from Charmander's Ember attack. The Charmander was breathing heavy and was obviously tired but the fiery glint in its eyes told a different story.

Red had the same look in his eye. He took off his hat from his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't even been really doing the work, it was Charmander doing all the work, but he still felt as if had been doing it himself. His body was tense with anticipation, the heat from Charmander's ember blast was nearly overwhelming as Red was standing just behind and to the right of the Charmander's boulder. Red didn't understand how he was already tired, Charmander was panting to his left.

"You ready, buddy?" Red asked. Charmander looked down at his trainer and Red could almost swear he nodded. "Go!"

Charmander turned one to the rocky sloped and let loose a big white-hot stream of flames from his little mouth. Red had to cover his eyes from the heat and brightness but he was grinning broadly.

"That was your best yet!" Red shouted once Charmander stopped spewing fire.

"Impossible," came Blue's sardonic voice. "That's not how it works, Charmander's ember stays the same each time, it doesn't get stronger or weaker until the Pokemon themselves become stronger or weaker."

"Don't listen to him, Charmander, that was amazing, he obviously doesn't know what he is talking about," Red opened his arms and Charmander jumped into them from the top of the boulder.

Blue rolled his eyes in annoyance. Stupid Red, he'd been sheltered his whole life, never allowed to be even near a Pokemon and now that he has been a trainer for less than a week he already thought he knew everything. So annoying. His Squirtle was running an obstacle course that Blue had set up for her. She was leaping over rocks, jumping through tree branches and dodging other obstacles, that was real training. Blue had been raised around his grandpa, a famous Pokemon Researcher and his famous cousin, Gary, who was a famous Pokemon Champion. He was in commercials and documentaries all the time. Blue was obviously the expert over Red, but Red never listened to him.

"You should at least battle every other trainer you see," Blue advised. "You should have fought that bug catcher we passed back there, he was weak but I still challenged him. You missed your chance."

"You'd already beat his only two Pokemon," Red retorted.

"You could have given him one of the Potions my grandfather gave you, then he could have battled you."

"I'm saving that for when one my Pokemon need it," Red dismissed. Blue shook his head, Red just never listened.

"You know if you never listen to anyone else then you'll never get any better!" Blue was tired of it.

"Oh, I listen to others," Red retorted as he cradled his Charmander like a baby and rubbed its belly. How was that supposed to make it stronger or quicker? "I just don't listen to jerks like you."

"I'm not the jerk who got his Pokemon taken by Team Rocket," Blue shot back.

"I got them back!"

" _We_ got them back," Green reminded him. She and Yellow were snacking while they played with their Pokemon.

Blue didn't mind so much as neither of them pretended like they thought they could be Pokemon Champions. It was Red's audacious ignorant claims that got under Blue's skin. Well, most everything Red did got under Blue's skin. Like always having some "smart" comment to everything Blue had to say to him.

"Yeah, either way, Blue, you're just a jerk who has to constantly criticize everyone around you just to make yourself feel better."

"Could you be any more annoying?" Blue asked.

"Yes," Red glared at him. "Care to tempt me into trying?"

"I can't wait until one of my Pokemon evolves, just so I can get away from you," Blue pointed an accusatory finger at Red. "I could hang with Green, she's fun. Yellow, she likes you too much but she's a nice girl. It's just you that I want to get away from, Red."

"Well the feeling is mutual," Red put Charmander down and walked away to get some food from his pack. Blue glared at Red's annoying back before turning to see if Squirtle had finished her obstacle course.

Green and Yellow turned and looked at each other. They rolled their eyes and chuckled before turning their attention back on their Pokemon.

 **Not Far Away . . .**

Bug Catcher Casey trembled in his sneakers. Jessie and James stood over them, casting a dark shadow. They both were grinning evilly as they took out their Pokeballs and released a Koffing and Ekans, his two bug Pokemon didn't stand a chance.

"What do you want?" he tried to sound brave but his voice betrayed him, trembling.

"You're in luck!" the purple-haired man said brightly.

"All we want is a little info," Jessie told him. "Your inferior weak little bug Pokemon are of no interest to us. Besides, they're creepy."

What could Casey possibly have to tell them that they wanted to know? He had no idea what that could possibly be. He just hoped he could answer their questions because their creepy smiles were getting hard to look at.

"Have you run into any trainers from Pallet Town?" Jessie asked.

"I don't usually ask where other trainers are from," Casey said doubtfully. "Do you know anything else about whoever you're looking for?"

"One of them had a Charmander and another had a Pikachu," Jessie pressed. "They were brand new trainers."

"Actually . . ." Casey remembered. "I did just lose to an arrogant jerk with a Squirtle, but one of his companions had a Pikachu on her shoulder and another had a Charmander just wandering loose."

"Bingo!" James cried.

"Where did you meet them?"

The Bug Catcher pointed North toward Viridian City. The two Team Rocket members looked at each other with worry.

"You're lucky we're in a rush twerp," Jessie told Casey. "Normally I'd pound your face in, I don't like it, but we gotta run!" The two took off running North.

"Were you serious about beating him up just because you didn't like his face?" James asked hesitantly after a few minutes of running.

"No," Jessie said dismissively, rolling her eyes. "We're Team Rocket we have to leave fear wherever we go, it's part of the job."

"Oh."

 **Further North**

Blue lead the group on Route One, he tossed one of his empty Pokeballs up and down in his hand. Behind him trailed Yellow and Red, always together, Blue figured losers stuck together, Yellow obviously had no idea how to battle, it was her experienced Pikachu that had saved her from embarrassment so far. Red's Charmander walked awkwardly by his side, ever loyal little thing just staring up at his Trainer's face. Poor little thing didn't realize that it belonged to a total loser.

The sun was strong and it pounded down on them, Red was lucky he was wearing a hat, so was Green. Yellow, despite being blonde, was very tan from her life wandering the woods with Pikachu. Blue had naturally darker skin so it was harder for him to get a sunburn than the pale Green and Red. It didn't save him from the heat.

Blue wiped his forehead with his sleeved arm. He should have worn his t-shirt but it had been chilly when they had woken up this morning. Despite the heat, his eyes were trained with a laser focus on the trees and tall grass around them, searching for any sign of wild Pokemon he could catch.

"How do you stay so focused?" Green appeared at his side.

"Cuz I'm a Champion," Blue smirked. Green gave him the stink eye. "I don't know what to tell you when I have a goal I stay focused on it until I complete it, nothing distracts me from it. I've always been that way."

Green didn't respond for a bit. "What's it like having Gary for a cousin? I bet you get all sorts of perks."

"Not really," Blue shrugged. "I don't see Gary much and it's not like we're close or anything."

"Who's that?" Red asked. Ahead of them on Route One stood a young man, not much older than they, what was strange about him was that he was decked out from head to toe in samurai armor.

"Ho, trainers," the young samurai pointed at them. "Do you happen to be from Pallet Town?"

"Yeah . . ." Red answered hesitantly.

The samurai approached. "Good, I have a word of warning for you."

"If you want to threaten any of us, he's not the challenge, I am," Blue interrupted.

"You are novices in comparison with me in Pokemon battling," the samurai looked directly at Blue. "No, I am here because I believe you are in danger."

"All new Pokemon trainers are in danger," Blue intoned. He had decided he didn't like this Samurai guy.

"Team Rocket is looking for you," the Samurai finally told them. "They have been interrogating trainers all up and down Route One searching for the four of you. They seem pretty pissed. I heard they even attacked Xanadu Nursery."

Green gasped. Blue felt the smallest twinge of guilt. If they hadn't taken refuge there Rocket wouldn't have attacked.

"Are you sure about that?" Blue asked. Maybe he was referring to before they had stopped at Xanadu. It was a thin hope.

"They threatened me about two hours ago asking about you," Samurai looked severely at Blue. "This is no joke and nothing to be taken lightly. Even if you could take on those two much more experienced trainers Team Rocket has hundreds if not thousands of members and they would just keep coming after you."

"What do you think we should do?" Yellow asked in a small voice. Blue glanced back at her but all he could see was Green's fuming red face. That made him worry. Xanadu had been a second home to her and they had attacked it. From the little that he knew of Green, she was quite capable of pulling some stupid maneuvers.

"I suggest you make your way rapidly to Viridian City, there is a police presence there and there is safety in numbers. You'd probably be safe there until whatever you have done to piss them off blows over."

"Hey!" Red suddenly snapped his fingers. Everyone looked at him and he blushed slightly. "I remember you, you started your Pokemon journey last year, you're one of the few trainers from your group left training."

"A lot of trainers quit when they realize they just can't hack it in the serious battle circuits," Samurai sounded particularly bitter when said it. "I don't quit. I will be competing in the Indigo League when it comes."

"Wow!" Red looked at Samurai starry-eyed. Thanks to being heavily sheltered by his mother he had never met anyone, outside of Professor Oak, that had competed in the Indigo League.

Blue kept looking at Green warily. "Alright, that's enough chit chatting, if Team Rocket is on our tails then we had better get moving."

"He's right," Samurai told Red.

Blue tucked the empty Pokeballs he had been tossing in his bag and marched quickly forward without another word to Samurai.

"Hey," Samurai called, Blue looked back but Samurai was looking at Red. "If we ever meet again you won't be a novice by then, then we can battle."

"You got it!" Red grinned and waved to Samurai as he continued walking quickly down Route One. Blue rolled his eyes and continued walking. What did anyone even see in Red? Even the stinking Samurai seemed to favor him. Annoying. He was so busy being angry that he missed a Pidgey passing right over his head.


	14. Gym Badge: Viridian City

**Chapter 3:**

 **5/31 Viridian City**

 **Route 1**

The next day Samurai sat on a stump that had been cut some time ago, the wood was dried and weatherbeaten. His helmet sat in his lap, secured by his arm resting atop it as he shoveled rice balls into his mouth. He believed in being efficient in his eating habits, food was fuel, not entertainment. He was so busy gulping down his meal that he didn't notice a pair of familiar figures creep up on him from the bushes.

"Don't we know you?" James suddenly asked, startling Samurai and causing him to drop a rice ball. He frowned and looked up at the pair of Pokemon thieves.

"Didn't we already run into you before?" Jessie asked, squinting her eyes. "You're that Samurai character."

"Character? Samurai is my name and I decided to live up to such a powerful name and become a samurai," the trainer told them as he stood and placed his helmet back on his head, his eyes glaring down at the fallen rice ball.

"You have to be kidding me," Jessie said disdainfully. Samurai didn't bother replying. "Have you seen those four twerps since we last saw you?"

"I am tired of your questions," Samurai barked. "You may leave my presence."

"I don't remember him being this insolent," James remarked.

"We must have gone too soft on him," Jessie decided. "I guess we better teach him what happens to those who refuse Team Rocket!"

In a flash, Ekans and Koffing emerged from their Pokeballs and advanced toward Samurai menacingly. Just as quick Samurai revealed two Pokemon of his own, Butterfree and Beedrill.

"Katana, take out that Koffing before he smokes up the whole place!" Samurai commanded. The Beedrill dove forward its wings nothing more than two blurs of silver. Koffing, just as Samurai predicted Koffing opened his mouth and began to spew thick purple smoke into the pure air. Faster than either Team Rocket agent thought possible Beedrill slammed into Koffing with its arm stingers extended. Koffing tumbled end over end with a pained cry, Beedrill zoomed back toward Samurai.

"Ekans, get that creep!" Jessie shouted. James pulled out Meowth from his Pokeball to join the fray.

"Naginata, gust!" Samurai ordered. His Butterfree flapped its large wings furiously, a blast of high-speed wind carried away Koffing's smoke and caused Jessie and James to stumble. Ekans, however, sleekly slithered toward his opponents.

Ekans reached her target and let loose a Poison Sting right at the flapping Butterfree. Without a command Beedrill dove in the way, its large stingers crossed in front of his body to protect itself. A few stings snuck past Katana's guard and pummeled his body. The Beedrill buzzed in pain and wobbled unsteadily in the air.

"Naginata use Stun Spore while Katana keeps the Ekans busy!"

"Oh no, you don't!" James shouted. "Meowth, attack that Butterfree, use Pay Day so we can get some moolah!" Nothing happened. James looked back at Meowth, it was licking itself casually. "Meowth, attack!"

It was too late, Butterfree flew over the battling Ekans and Beedrill and flapped its dusty wings, releasing a stunning spore from itself. Beedrill disengaged at the last second and zoomed out of the way. Ekans tried to slither away but it was too slow. The spore rained down on it. Ekans twitched but couldn't move any further.

"Obviously he must be protecting them!" Jessie growled. She summoned Ekans back into its Pokeball, James did the same for Koffing. "That means we are on the right track, he's wasting our time, let's go!"

The pair turned and ran, Meowth was quick to follow.

Samurai glared after them for a second before opening his arms so his injured Beedrill could land in them. "Let's take a look at those stings, Katana. You were amazing! You too, Naginata!" The Butterfree did a figure eight in pleasure at the praise. There were small tears in Beedrill's hide. Samurai inspected them for any signs of poison. Beedrill were naturally resistant, but they weren't immune.

Samurai withdrew a potion from a pocket under his armor and sprayed his Beedrill, the effect was immediate and Katana flew back up into the air and did a loop de loop in celebration of its newfound health. Samurai was staring again at where Jessie and James had disappeared, a worried look on his face.

"Good luck, Pallet Towners," Samurai whispered and he pulled out his two Pokeballs for his victorious companions.

 **Viridian City**

Red couldn't believe his eyes when they crested a hilltop and saw Viridian City splayed before them in a valley. He had rarely been able to travel anywhere outside of Pallet Town since his mom hadn't had any Pokemon to protect them. They only managed to go when a group from the town would travel for supplies.

"Wow," Red breathed.

"Don't get so excited," Blue told him. "It's barely big enough to be called a city."

"It's the biggest city I have ever seen," Red informed him.

"That's sad," Blue chortled and continued walking along the path.

"Same for me, Red," Yellow told her friend. Green didn't say anything but she followed Blue in continuing along the route.

"I think that's the Viridian City Gym," Red whispered to Yellow pointing to a large orange building right in the center of the small city. "The few times we came here my mom would never let me go anywhere near it." At the thought of his mother, Red grew silent and stared distantly at the city below, lost in thought.

"Let's go straight there," Yellow encouraged, interrupting his thoughts.

"Definitely!" Red agreed.

"You are going to challenge the Viridian City Gym Leader with your Pokemon exhausted from the journey? You're dumber than I thought." Blue smirked at them.

"I didn't say we were going to challenge anyone," Yellow retorted.

"Yeah," Red supported. "It's always good to learn as much as you can about your opponent and your battleground before a big match."

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were using your brains for once," Blue looked mildly surprised and walked on.

Yellow shook her head in annoyance. Red rolled his eyes. It took them another ten minutes or so to actually get into Viridian city. Red was once again awed at the sight of the city. In Pallet Town Oak's Lab was the biggest building in the town, in Viridian City almost every single building was bigger than Oak's Lab.

"Well, I hate to admit it," Blue said, turning to Green. "But those two actually had a good point, let's go scope out the Gym." Green simply nodded. They weaved through the people walking through the city streets heading directly for the center. It was only a few twists and turns and the Gym appeared before them. It had orange walls with a forest green roof of clay tiles, a fountain stood in front of it surrounded by elegant stairs leading up to the Gym's entrance. Red had never seen a building of such an intricate design. He was gaping in awe. Yellow nudged him and grinned. Red grinned back.

As they approached Red noticed something was funny. The windows were dark and there was no traffic coming in or leaving the Gym. A Gym in a city should be a very busy place. Red frowned. There was a single older man standing at the bottom of the stairs next to the gurgling fountain. Red hurried his steps, maybe it was closing early, maybe he still had a chance to get inside.

"Are you headed to the Gym, boy?" the old man's voice was raspy. Red stopped in front of the old man and nodded.

"What's going on?" a pretty young woman approached from the top of the stairs.

"Gym's closed!" the old man pronounced.

"What?" Red groaned in dismay.

"Did he say the Gym was closed?" Blue asked as the rest of the team joined Red at the fountain.

"Sure did!" the old man almost seemed excited to be the center of attention. "The Gym Leader was called away South on an important mission."

"When's he coming back?"

"Who knows?" the old man shrugged. The young woman looked almost as disappointed as the young trainers.

The teens from Pallet Town turned and slowly walked away, their shoulders slumped. The old man waved after them, the young woman didn't move. Once the four were out of earshot the old man turned to her.

"You know that was them," his voice was no longer raspy. The young woman glared after the Pallet Town trainers.

"Of course I knew it."

"We should have attacked, the boss wanted them taken care of."

"Who was assigned to that particular mission?" the girl looked pointedly at her partner disguised as an old man.

"Jessie and James," the disguised Team Rocket member remembered.

"Why would we help those two?"

"If the boss finds out we had them in our grasp and we just let them go he will literally kill us."

"And who is going to tell him?" the young woman turned and slowly walked back to her post along the West road. The other returned to pretending to be an old man. He smiled largely under his fake beard.

Less than fifteen minutes later Jessie and James came racing onto Gym grounds. They were panting and sweating, obviously, they knew they were close to their quarry, the two waiting Team Rocket members glanced exasperatedly at each other. There was no one in Team Rocket quite as inept as Jessie and James.

"Have either of you seen four little twerps with a Charmander and Pikachu?" Jessie asked loudly as they both came skidding to a halt.

"You mean the four novice trainers that the Boss sent you two to get rid of?" the young woman asked.

"Yes, those ones," Jessie said through clenched teeth. There was no need to point they had failed so far on their mission.

"Hmm," the gangster disguised as an old man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I believe there is a chance we might have seen them."

"Well, have you or haven't you?" Jessie barked.

"What he means is, didn't the Boss tell you both to get rid of them _before_ they made it to Viridian City?"

"We are well aware of what the boss told us to do," James cried out. "These four are surprisingly slippery!"

"Well?" Jessie shouted impatiently.

"Yes, we did see them," the man admitted.

"Which way did they go?" It wasn't a dumb question, they could have gone East or West or back South where they had come from.

"My aged brain just isn't what it used to be," the man smirked. "I can't remember which way they were headed."

Jessie glared at him, her right eye twitching.

"Normally, if I were you I wouldn't be hanging around outside the Gym until you've completed the Boss' orders." the young woman laughed mirthlessly.

As if just realizing the Boss could come out at any time and catch them not having completed their mission Jessie and James both glanced nervously at the Gym. James squinted curiously at it while Jessie turned her malevolent gaze back on the young woman who had laughed at them.

"Okay, Cassidy, you got us, now tell us where they went before we tell the boss you purposely let them go just to screw us."

"You'd have a hard time doing that seeing as the Boss has left town on another mission for his current secret obsession."

Jessie glanced back the Gym and finally noticed the darkened windows. Cassidy was just messing with her head and enjoying every second of it. Nothing pissed Jessie off more than people that messed with her head.

"I swear I will unleash my Ekans and let him swallow you if you don't hurry up and tell us where the twerps went!"

"No need to get violent," the man smirked. "I'm sure you've lost them by now, they went back the way they came." Jessie and James glanced backward then back at Cassidy and her companion eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"He's telling you the truth," Cassidy confirmed. "It's more fun this way, so you can see them as they slip from your grasp."

Cursing Jessie and James turned back South and raced down the road with mocking laughter echoing off their backs.

"If you were a new trainer coming to this city for the first time where would you go?" Jessie asked, trying to ignore the mockery.

"The PokeCenter," James replied as if it were the most obvious answer. Perhaps it was. Jessie was so flustered, Cassidy's words echoing in her head.

Red was the first to see the familiar red roof design of the PokeCenter ahead of them. Which was odd considering he was the only one of the four that had never actually been inside one before. They let out a collective sigh of relief, they had been on the road for days now and they were all looking forward to resting their tired feet. None of them had been prepared for how much walking they would actually be doing.

"How did we miss this on the way in?" Blue asked. Red glanced around, sure enough, the PokeCenter was on the main road right at the entrance to the city, they had walked past it when they had arrived.

"You boys all have one track minds," Green told him. "You might not get distracted, Blue, but you also miss all sorts of things along your way to your goal."

Red sighed as the door to the PokeCenter opened automatically for him and a blast of cool air whooshed out, cooling him. The last day of May was a hot one and the humidity seemed to be on the rise. He was glad for a respite from the sun.

They all gathered at the entrance, taking it in. It was a fairly small and simple building. The main counter stood directly in front of them with a pink-haired nurse standing behind it next to a large machine. Above the nurse's head was a screen split into six sections.

Blue rushed forward and handed the cute nurse his three occupied Pokeballs. The nurse thanked him in a gentle voice and placed the Pokeballs into the large machine to her right. Three of the sections on the screen above her lit up and revealed the three Pokemon that were in their Pokeballs; Squirtle, Rattata and Spearow. In just a short moment the screens turned back off and the nurse was handing Blue's Pokeballs right back to him.

"Hello," the nurse smiled at Red and beckoned him forward. Red dug for his Pokeballs from his belt and then stopped short. The nurse wasn't just cute, he was beautiful. She kept her hair bundled up neatly excepting a few ringlets that fell to each side of her face, drawing attention to large kind eyes. Red shook his head and handed his Pokeballs over to her. "My name is Joy."

"I'm Red," Red blushed slightly. Suddenly a frown marred Joy's almost perfect face.

"Did you get attacked by a wild Pokemon?" Joy asked suddenly, the concern in her voice was obvious.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to embarrass you," Joy said delicately. "Your face is covered in half-healed bruises.

"Oh!" Red debated whether or not he should tell Nurse Joy the truth of what had happened but eventually, he decided he just didn't want to lie to her, her face was so open and trusting. "Well, you see . . ." He launched into the story of how they had run into Team Rocket and how they had stolen his Pokemon only to steal them back and how they were still being chased when they got to Viridian City.

Nurse Joy for her part nodded sagely at his story and made all the right emotional responses at each turn of the adventure. "Well, there are beds behind the wall over there, once all your Pokemon are healed why don't you all go get some rest, it sounds like you have more than earned it."

They all agreed and after Nurse Joy and enjoyed a quick cuddle from Yellow's Pikachu and made an impressed remark about Green's four Pokemon they all headed over to the beds and fell right onto the mattresses. Charmander hopped up on the bed and curled in a warm orange ball next to Red, his tail flame low and cool. Red put an arm protectively over his starter Pokemon and fell asleep almost instantly.

Nurse Joy came after a few moments to check on them and discovered all four of them asleep, most with Pokemon. Even Bulbasaur had somehow gotten out of his Pokeball and curled up in between Green's knees. Only Blue had kept all of his Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Joy smiled and turned back to her desk

"Hello?" she picked up the phone and immediately dialed a number she had memorized by heart. "Jenny, it's me, Joy, I think you should come down here." She didn't notice Jessie and James peering into the PokeCenter's windows.


	15. Gym Badge: It Happened One Day

**Chapter 4:**

 **5/31 It Happened One Day at the PokeCenter**

 **Viridian City PokeCenter**

Red sat down at the computer in the PokeCenter, he had napped for over an hour. By the time he had woken up, Blue was already up and finishing up a call to his parents. Green was still comatose, Yellow was already waking up too. He had never felt so stiff in his life, his muscles felt like they were completely incapable of bending. He had stretched much like he had witnessed Blue doing every morning since leaving Pallet Town.

Red picked up the phone handset that was connected to the computer. The screen automatically lit up and gave him a display to dial numbers. Thankfully there was a built-in directory as well and Red was able to search for the number he wanted. He dialed it in on the keypad.

The phone rang three times and Red nearly hung up the receiver when the screen shifted and a face appeared. "Hello?"

"Hello, Professor Oak, it's me," Red began, unsure what else to say. He felt tired and lonely and sad, he knew he was homesick but didn't want to admit it, even to himself. After seeing Blue call his parents he had gotten the sudden urge to call his mother, but he knew that was out of the question. He had no one else to call. He was pathetic, no one cared about him, he could die on this journey and the only person that would care was an old man who already had numerous grandchildren to care about.

"Red! It's so nice to see you!" Oak smiled into the camera.

"Thank you, Professor," it came out sadder than he had meant it to.

"How are you feeling?" Professor Oak asked.

"What do you mean?" Red asked defensively.

"Well . . ." Oak fumbled for words for a moment. "It is not uncommon for trainers who go on their first adventure to catch a cold almost immediately. I know I did by the time I had gotten to Viridian City on my journey."

"I'm okay, Professor," Red shrugged.

"Well, don't let anything get you down, a cold or whatever," Oak said mysteriously. "I know that you may feel like you are starting out a bit behind since you weren't able to be around Pokemon before your journey like the other trainers, but you have a natural gift for Pokemon, trust me. Not only was your father one of the most gifted Pokemon Rangers I have ever seen but that Charmander of yours was actually given to three novice trainers before you but he rejected all three of them. He had good instincts, Red, you are going to be a great trainer one day, whatever you choose to do."

Red blushed, he felt embarrassed, there was no way he was as good as Oak was making him out to be. Then he looked at Charmander standing at his side, nuzzling up against his back. He had rejected three trainers before Red? That did give Red pause to think, he shook his head, realizing he hadn't responded to Oak.

"Thank you, don't worry, I'll be fine," Red definitely felt a little better knowing how much Oak said he believed in him but he probably did the same to all of his new trainers when they called.

"I know you will be, Red. Don't go anywhere I have someone here I think you would like to meet," Oak moved aside to reveal a middle-aged woman that Red recognized right away, Deliah Ketchum.

"Hello, Red," Deliah smiled and waved at him. Everyone knew the mother of one of Pallet Town's most famous sons.

"Hello," Red suddenly felt shy, blood rushing to his face.

"Hey I happened to come by the lab and I heard how you had a rough start to your journey. When Ash started his journey his father had been gone for a long time and was rarely able to communicate from so far away. Ash missed him dearly, and he constantly felt like he was proving anything without his father there to see. What he and I didn't know was that his father was watching, on TV, far away and cheering him on. My point is, sometimes the things you think you are missing are really right there, just out of view."

"Thanks," Red gave her a smile. He couldn't believe she was comparing him to Ash.

"Ash also had a grandson of the Professor here as a rival," Deliah winked. "He didn't exactly treat Ash very well, but Ash let that rivalry push him and it helped him grow faster. Let people's disdain and disbelief make you stronger, Red. You will never have a shortage of haters and deniers, anyone who wants to become someone great does."

Had she been reading his mind? Obviously not but she had said all the things that he needed to hear in the space of just a few moments. Now that he thought about it he was already feeling a lot better. The heavyweight of self-imposed expectations didn't feel as heavy anymore, she was right. Anyone that was somebody important had people that wanted to see them torn down, it was just the way things were. He wasn't going to let Blue's harsh criticisms and insults affect him anymore.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Ketchum, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. It really helped, truly."

"I'm glad," Deliah smiled.

Professor joined her in front of the camera, "I don't suppose you know how Blue is doing, Red?"

"He didn't call you?" How could you have a grandfather like Professor Oak and not call him?

"I suppose he must be ahead of you and already earned his badge and left the city by now," Oak sighed.

"No," Red felt inexplicably irritable suddenly. "He just left the PokeCenter, the Gym is closed and we don't know when it will open again."

"Oh, I see, Red . . . I . . .I" Oak stammered as Deliah laughed behind him. "I'm sorry Red, I should have guessed you'd be neck and neck with him. You do have quite the fighting spirit after all."

Red felt a little better. "It's okay Professor. I'll ask him to give you a call when I see him again."

The two waved goodbye to him and the screen went back to the dial pad. Red was smiling as he turned in his seat and froze, Charmander squeaked in surprise. Jessie and James stood before him, Jessie was holding a hand over Nurse Joy's mouth, her Ekans poised to strike next to her. James was holding a hand over Yellow's mouth, her Pikachu was being squeezed in Ekans' coils. Above the criminals floated Koffing.

"Charmander!" Red started to shout. Before he could command anything the Koffing slammed downward, headbutting the shocked Charmander. Charmander fell backward with a cry. Red reached for a Pokeball.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Jessie told him. "Or the Pikachu gets eaten alive."

Red stopped his hand just short of Nidoran's Pokeball. He looked around them to see if he could yell out to Green.

"Don't bother," James told him proudly. "We tied her up before she even woke."

Charmander regained his feet but Red was worried for his Pokemon as Koffing hovered him with a low menacing groan. He couldn't let them take his Pokemon again, especially not when they had everyone else's Pokemon as well. Red glanced around for some kind of help, but there was nothing. It was just him and Charmander.

Red leaped up at Koffing, knocking the surprised Pokemon tumbled through the air, with him still grasping it tightly. "Charmander, now!" He was sorry scared he had forgotten to tell Charmander what to do.

Charmander went to his default move, Ember. Flames shot toward the two Team Rocket members. Ekans lashed out with the end of its tail and smacked Charmander aside. Meowth tackled the now released and gasping Pikachu. Koffing shook free of Red's grasp and flew at Charmander for another headbutt.

"Charmander, watch out!" Red cried out.

Suddenly a much larger and hotter flame smacked into Koffing and sent him tumbling away once more. Red regained his feet and glanced to see who had intervened on Charmander's behalf.

A blue-haired female police officer stood glaring angrily at Team Rocket, a growling Growlithe at her side. Charmander regained his feet once more. As if things weren't bad enough for the criminals Pikachu had finally regained his breath.

With a shrill cry, the electric mouse Pokemon let loose a bright Electric Wave that slammed into and shocked Meowth. The cat-like Pokemon screeched and fell to the floor. Ekans turned and slithered toward the recovering Pikachu. Charmander's bright little flame intercepted the snake-like Pokemon. Ekans turned and hissed at Charmander.

"It's time to bail!" James called out to Jessie. He glared at him and opened her mouth to argue, just then a massive fireball flew past her face. She closed her mouth and nodded. The two shoved their prisoners roughly aside, kicking them in the small of their backs. James quickly recalled the still-smoking Meowth. Ekans was next with Koffing narrowly avoiding a thunderbolt from the now angry Pikachu.

"This isn't over, you little twerp!" Jessie shouted over her shoulder and the two plowed into the officer and ran on past. Just grateful his Charmander was safe Red raced over to his starter Pokemon.

"You are the bravest Pokemon I have ever seen!" he cried as he swooped in and picked Charmander up. He laughed with relief as Charmander cooed happily. They stared at each other in the eyes a moment, something indescribable passing between them, almost as if they shared each other's thoughts in that one moment.

"Joy!" the officer rushed over to the recovering nurse.

"I'm fine! Are the Pokemon alright?"

"What about other people?" Jenny asked with a laugh. The two helped Yellow to her feet then stopped and regarded Red quietly.

"That was a very brave and foolish thing you did there," Officer Jenny told Red, her face vacillating between anger and admiration.

"I couldn't let them get my Pokemon again."

"Again?" Jenny looked surprised.

"This is the trainer I told you about, Jenny," Joy interjected. "As you can see Team Rocket is still after him."

"Oh! Green!" Yellow suddenly reminded them and Joy and Jenny raced over to the beds and untied their teammate. Yellow looked at Red a little worried. Red shrugged, he hadn't done anything wrong, what could go wrong? Famous last words.


	16. Gym Badge: Cops and Robbers

**Chapter 5:**

 **5/31 Cops and Robbers**

 **Viridian City PokeCenter**

Red sat numbly through Officer Jenny's one-hundredth question. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can remember to help us identify or find them?"

"I've told you everything I know," Red folded his arms, his eyes glaring at the police officer.

"You know, you sure don't seem too cooperative," Officer Jenny noted.

"Look, I want those jerks brought down just as much as you do," Red growled.

"Oh do you?"

"Of course," Red snapped. "I was the one they were threatening! Do you think I enjoy being threatened?"

"Well, you might not want them captured so they won't talk," Jenny supplied. "Suppose they know something about you that the rest of us don't. Something criminal, perhaps? You wouldn't want them leaking your secret. What are they after you for?"

"The only thing I can think of is that I stole my Pokemon back from them," Red answered truthfully.

"Why do you keep repeating yourself? You already told me that!"

"Because it's the truth!"

"Red?" Another voice came from the entrance. "Oh man, what have you done, you idiot?"

"Young man!" Officer Jenny shouted authoritatively. "This is a sealed-off crime scene, you are not permitted past the yellow tape!"

"This is where I am staying, all of my things are here," Blue stated. "I am not sure if I want to admit this but he is my fellow traveler, we just started our Pokemon journey together in Pallet Town."

"Very well, go join the others in the sleeping room and wait until I am done with this one," Jenny ordered with a nod of her head. Blue actually gave Red a pitying look before proceeding to join the girls in the room.

"What happened?" Blue asked the pale-faced Yellow and Green. "What did Red do to get the police involved?"

Blue was surprised by how much it affected him to see Red sitting there being interrogated angrily by a police officer. He thought it would make him laugh but instead a hard knot was forming in the pit of his stomach. Yellow turned to him with tear-filled eyes, her chin trembling. She couldn't seem to get any words out. Blue swallowed, his throat immediately dry. What the heck had happened here?

"It was Team Rocket," Green blurted out before Yellow could find a way to force the words out.

"Again?"

"They came here looking for him," Green's face, while pale, was emotionless, her eyes, though, were wide and glassy.

"What did they want from Red?"

"They didn't get a chance to say."

"You two jumped them?"

"No." It was Yellow who spoke this time. Her voice was eerily quiet and trembled enough to make Blue's throat go dry again.

"They tied us up like a Farfetch'd dinner," Green informed.

"They almost killed Pikachu!" Yellow's voice broke this time, but she held the sob in with considerable effort.

"So who saved Red?"

"He saved himself!" Yellow declared at the exact same time Green offered, "Officer Jenny!"

"Oookaay," Blue shook his head. "So why is the officer grilling him like he was the one who committed the crime?"

"Because that's what they do," Green sneered at the sight of Jenny. Blue wondered why she said that.

"We don't know!" Yellow's statement was equally unhelpful to Blue.

"Well then someone has to put a stop to it," Blue decided. He turned and went back into the main room. The blue-haired female officer was still grilling poor Red who said nothing but glared back at her the way he always looked at Blue.

"Well, Officer," Blue interrupted the interview. "It seems that Red here has told you all he knows, which isn't much I am sure. As I said earlier, the guy is an idiot. And besides, it's time we got back onto our Pokemon journey."

"Excuse me young man, but you are impeding an investigation," Jenny turned to him with a no-nonsense look in her eyes. She stood up and gave him a squinted glare. Blue made sure he looked bored as he looked back at Jenny. She continued her rant. "He could be working in collusion with Team Rocket, helping them with their crimes!"

"If he is working with Team Rocket then why do they keep trying to steal his Pokemon from him?"

"We only have his word to go on that!"

"We three are all witnesses to the first attempt," Blue motioned to include Yellow and Green in his statement. "You yourself witnessed their second attempt! He is obviously not working with them."

"He could be from a rival gang."

Now she was starting to sound desperate, Blue had to make sure a smirk didn't sneak onto his face.

"Or he could be the son of a famous Pokemon Ranger that was killed by Team Rocket when he was just a kid and he has nothing but hate for Team Rocket." Blue paused for a moment to make sure what he said was sinking in. "He is from Pallet Town. They guy's about as innocent as they come. His mom pretty much never even let him leave the house, and he definitely never left town before joining us."

"You're Crimson's son?" Jenny suddenly turned Red with a look of deep sympathy and regret on her face.

"What of it?" Red had obviously had enough of Jenny.

"He saved my life, and many others," Jenny took off her police-issue hat and bowed her head to Red in respect. "There was a reason he was such a famous Pokemon Ranger. I am sorry, young man, I had no idea."

"Like I said," Red said sullenly. "I want those jerks put away just as much as you do. If not even more."

Jenny replaced her hat on her head but didn't regain her aggressive posture. "I am afraid I may have to detain you, for your own safety."

"He's done nothing wrong!" Blue countered with a startled look on his face. What was wrong with this woman?

"Team Rocket already killed your father, young man, I can't let them get you too," Jenny said firmly. Blue was surprised to see there were tears forming in her eyes. Red stared at her in shock, not responding.

"Jenny!" Joy suddenly cried out in shock. Jenny had forgotten Joy was even there. "You cannot detain an innocent civilian if they haven't committed a crime and their life isn't in immediate danger. While his life was in danger, I see no reason to believe it will be immediately."

"Joy, you shouldn't interfere in Police business," Jenny's voice was cold and deadly serious.

"And you shouldn't be making a false arrest!" Joy's voice was firm, unusual for the normally soft-spoken nurse, her blue eyes were determined. "I can't let you do that as long as you are in my PokeCenter."

Jenny looked shocked at Joy's bravado. She stared at the defiant faces of Red and Blue, Green had come out of the room to join them trying to look tough too but she was obviously still in shock. Yellow was still in the sleeping room, in the shadows. Jenny's shoulders slumped.

"Please, then come with me voluntarily," Jenny offered. "Let me protect you. I know you have gotten away from them twice now but I wouldn't bet on the third time. Team Rocket is deadly serious about their business."

"I know I just said she shouldn't detain you but Jenny is right, team," Joy's face changed to express the concern they heard in her voice. "I was kidnapped by Team Rocket once many years ago. They threw a burlap bag over my head and beat me until I could barely walk so I couldn't escape easily. Then they made me walk for miles, barely able to hobble my way along. Whenever we stopped anywhere they threw or kicked me to the ground, they took great pleasure in hurting me. They would wake me up each morning by kicking dirt and rocks into my face. They laughed extra hard if I got it in my eyes. They would threaten me every day with simply killing me because I wasn't worth the work or my food rations of which they only fed me one small meal once a day, most days, some days I had nothing."

"I thankfully have but few scars from my ordeal but I will never forget their words, their abuse, I will never forget the terror of waking and wondering each day if I would be brutally murdered. It changed me completely. It haunts me to this day, I will never forget that short time, it was only a week but it felt like an eternity, an eternity of pain. If it hadn't been for your father, Red, I would likely have been killed and tossed away with the garbage, just like they had told me I would be."

Red looked at Joy with newfound respect. He would never have guessed she had endured such horrific treatment with her usually kind and exuberant nature shining through. She was much stronger than he had supposed.

"I appreciate you sharing that with us, but since it is him Team Rocket is after then he should be the one to make the decision, not the rest of us," Yellow said as she finally emerged. "What do you say, Red?"

"What?" Blue asked loudly turning his burning gaze on Yellow, but Green shut him up with a wild look.

"No," Red said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Joy asked, her brow furrowing. Jenny looked pissed.

"I am sure. I will never be a Pokemon Ranger if I run from challenges. I can't become the best if I stay protected in your custody. You say my dad was one of the best, well this is why he was. He didn't run away from danger, he ran toward it, as long as there was someone he could help." Red explained. "I know you are concerned and I am scared but I can't let anything stop me now."

"Please reconsider," Jenny tried with a heavy sigh. "I swear I will make finding those two my priority. It might just be for one day."

"Lady, he said no," Blue interrupted and grabbed his things before Red could change his mind. "And if you don't let us leave we will have to call our sponsor, Professor Oak, and tell him how you tried to illegally arrest us."

Yellow took advantage of Officer Jenny's stunned silence and handed Red his bags before grabbing her own and Green shouldered her bags. With a few nods, they were out the exit door and into Viridian City's streets.

They were all silent for a while as they put some distance between themselves and the PokeCenter.

"Hey, Blue, thanks for sticking up for me like that," Red nearly choked on his own words once they'd gotten away from Officer Jenny.

"Yeah, whatever." Blue shrugged it off. "Don't get any ideas, I only did it because my grandpa is your sponsor and I didn't what that on his record."

"Oh," Red replied.

Back inside the PokeCenter Joy and Jenny gave each other worried looks. Neither of them was sure the young trainers would survive the night.

"You should have let me detain them."

"And risk your Police license? No way was I going to let you lose your job over some kid who would just hate you for it anyway."

"I can't let them just run out into the forest like that, knowing Team Rocket is on their trail. What if they are on a vendetta to kill Crimson's son, eliminate the family altogether? What if I have to find him tomorrow, dead in a ditch?"

"You can't stop all the crimes that might happen," Joy told her solemnly. "All you can do is solve the ones that have happened."

"Wow, Joy," Jenny looked in surprise at the Pokemon nurse. "That's dark coming from you."

Nurse Joy rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to tell you that you need to follow them to watch out for Team Rocket, yeesh, I am not that cold-blooded."

"Oooooh," Jenny nodded for a moment before turning and sprinting out the door at full speed, Growlithe running right behind her.

Jenny was surprised Joy had told the kids about her capture by Team Rocket, then again it had been Crimson's son. The other boy looked familiar too. He kind of reminded Jenny of Gary Oak. Joy was stronger than she, Jenny hadn't divulged her own story. She had been a captive right along with Joy and Tracey and Professor and Daisy Oak.

When Crimson had discovered the Team Rocket hideout initially he had Ash, Misty, Gary, and their mentor Brock with him. The surprise attack by five trainers had been too much for the unprepared Team Rocket. They had grabbed Professor Oak, Tracey and Daisy and ran. Crimson and the rest followed in pursuit, only Brock had stayed behind to let Joy and Jenny free, all while flirting awkwardly with them both. At the time Jenny had been so relieved to be free she hadn't even noticed. Now that she thought about it Brock was kind of a creep, too bad he had become a Gym Leader. She would love to give him a piece of her mind now. What a creep.

Blue had insisted they stop at the Viridian City PokeMart to get some potions. "Trust me, every smart trainer stocks up on potions before entering Viridian Forest. That place is a maze and filled with wild Pokemon." he had told them before Red had finally agreed. Blue knew Red was just eager to get away from Jenny and he didn't actually blame him. They still had to be smart about this stuff.

"I want five potions!" Blue told the man at the counter, handing over several dollars. He looked around at his teammates. They all were standing near the door, waiting for him. None of them had bought any potions. Blue shook his head and they left the store.

"I told you all to get potions," Blue shook his head as they headed North toward the city limits.

"Umm, Blue," Yellow finally said timidly after a moment's silence. "None of us can afford them."

"What?"

"Red's mother disowned him before he left, she didn't let him save any money for his journey either, since she didn't want him to go. My parents died years ago, I barely have enough money to feed me and Pikachu." Yellow admitted.

Blue sighed. "You'll all have to start making bets on your own matches. Before you get into the leagues and make tournament money that's the way most new trainers make their money."

"Sure," Yellow agreed, but there was little confidence in her voice. Blue looked at his pathetic traveling companions. He doubted Green's parents had cared to give her any money for her journey either. What crappy parents all the others had. While every continued in silence Blue slowed down and quietly slipped a potion into an external pocket on her pack without Yellow realizing it.

 **Viridian City Gym**

Jessie and James had avoided their teammates as they snuck into the Gym, Team Rocket's secret hideout right in plain sight. While they may have convinced themselves they had done exactly what their boss had asked it was going to be much harder to convince their fellow gang members that's what they had done. No one really liked them. Meowth scouted ahead of them down the hallways, meowing if anyone came too close.

"Jessie, why do you think everyone in Team Rocket hates us so much?" James asked out of the blue.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Jessie barked. "Not everyone hates us. Everyone that does is just jealous because the boss likes us."

"I'm not sure he does."

"James, you and I have gotten away with more failures than anyone else in the history of Team Rocket."

"Gee, thanks."

"What I am saying is," Jessie turned and glared with annoyance at him. "The boss obviously likes us or we would be dead already."

"I feel so much better."

"Don't ask questions if you don't want them answered," Jessie snapped. James sighed, he had hurt her feeling somehow.

"You are right, just like always," James said with more appreciation than he felt.

"What?" Jessie said in surprise. "Of course I am." Her voice sounded considerably happier now. James gave himself a small smile. He enjoyed the small things, like being able to make his best friend smile in the worst of times.


	17. Gym Badge: Viridian Forest

**Chapter 6:**

 **5/31 The Viridian Forest**

 **Route 2, Viridian Forest**

The gate to Route Two stood before them, the four had stalled at their exit. Beyond was some sort of a large house or something but other than that, everything was covered in thick vegetation. The cries of wild Pokemon drifted toward them. The sound was enticing and terrifying all at once. Of course, they wanted to catch new Pokemon but they also knew that many trainers from Pallet Town had met their end here in the Viridian Forest. Some had come home so beaten, unable to ever reach the other side, others had never come home at all, were never heard from again.

"Just on the other side of that forest is Pewter City. Pewter City is home to the Rock-type Gym Leader Brock," Blue told them. He knew that if he didn't motivate them soon they might lose their nerve. Only he of the four of them had traveled far outside of Pallet Town. He had gone as far as Johto.

"My first Gym Badge," Red whispered in awe.

"If you can beat him," Blue snorted derisively. Blue had found the best way to motivate Red was to challenge him.

"Rock-type, you said?" Red asked.

"Brock, yes, don't you know all the Gym Leaders of Kanto?" Blue was astonished at that. "How do you not know that?"

"My mom wouldn't let me talk about that stuff, and she limited my television, I wasn't allowed to watch anything having to do with training."

"Oh wow, so was there anything you _could_ watch?" Green interjected. "I mean if you couldn't watch anything to do with training that leaves like two toddler puppet programs and well . . ."

"This Sturdy Home," Red said at the same time as Blue. "Believe me, I know."

"Maaannn," Blue mumbled to himself. Still, if someone would have tried to control him like that he wouldn't have let it happen. Red was weak for letting his mom hold him back from his dreams.

"Wow, I missed this place so much," Yellow said more to herself than anyone else. "Wonder if we'll run into any old friends, Pikachu."

"You're from Viridian Forest?" Blue asked disbelievingly. "Like, you lived _in_ Viridian Forest?"

Yellow nodded absently. "It's where my parents raised me until they died that is. I couldn't bear to leave it."

"So, you're telling us that you grew up like Tarzan, a wild girl of the forest? Give me a break," Green shook her head.

"I wasn't some wild girl," Yellow turned annoyed to face Green. "I lived in the cabin my dad had built with his Machop."

"Oh, really?" Green looked like she was far from convinced. "So where's this Machop now?"

"He died in the landslide, along with my parents," Yellow told her somberly.

Even Green didn't seem to want to press her, Green was just making herself look like a heartless jerk. Maybe she was, but she didn't want to be known for it. She choked back another retort and turned back toward the forest.

"So, are we going or what?" Green snarled and walked forward without her traveling companions.

Blue followed her without another word. Red stared after Green's back, a look of disbelief on his face. He turned toward Yellow with a sympathetic expression but Yellow simply shook her head as if it didn't matter and started forward. Red followed. They were definitely a dysfunctional little group.

As Red stepped into the forest he was surprised how gloomy it was, the tall trees grew so thick that it was hard to see the sky above them. Shadows loomed in every cranny and the calls of wild Pokemon grew louder with each step he took. When he was younger he remembered his dad taking him to the woods just outside of Pallet Town but they had been nothing like this forest.

Red looked at Blue and could tell that even his rival was on edge. His father had told him long ago that the Viridian Forest was much friendlier than it looked. As Red glanced around he swore he saw movement out of the corner of his eye but when he wheeled about to look there was nothing there. His skin prickled with fear and anticipation. Something was nearby, he was sure of it.

"Did anyone else see that?" Red asked.

"See what?" Green asked, obviously trying to mask the tremors of fear in her voice.

"Oh, he's just trying to psych you out," Blue told Green dismissively but Red noticed Blue's eyes were darting from side to side.

"No," Red shook his head. "I swear I saw something move in the bushes. I'm hoping it was a Pokemon I can catch."

"Let's just keep moving," Blue said.

"I don't want to miss a chance to catch a Pokemon," Red refused.

"It's the Viridian Forest," Blue rolled his eyes. "You'll have plenty of chances to catch Pokemon."

"He's right," Yellow whispered at Red so only he could hear. She would hate for Blue to hear that she had agreed with him. "I grew up here, there are so many Pokemon we're bound to run into several just by pure accident."

"What if it's a rare one?" Red asked.

"Nothing that rare lives here," Blue told him. "It's Mount Moon that I am looking forward to. Now there's a place with some rare Pokemon."

Red looked at Yellow for confirmation but she only shrugged. Red couldn't fault her, he didn't even know what kind of Pokemon were found near his home town. Whenever he started to feel bad for fighting with his mom before he left, all he had to do was remember how she had tried to take his dreams from him. The anger would rise up to the surface, boiling under his skin like lava fresh from a volcano, the pain felt fresh. He scowled, he was going to show her. He was going to become an amazing Pokemon trainer. He was going to live his dream no matter what she said.

"You okay?" Yellow poked him in the arm gently, bringing him out of his reverie. "You look pissed."

"I'm fine," Red didn't explain any further.

"Okay," Yellow sounded doubtful.

"Aha!" All four of them jumped as a loud voice suddenly erupted next to them. A boy about their age burst from the bushes, an excited look on his face. "Now that I have shown myself one of you must battle me!"

Blue smirked and folded his arms. Red, on the other hand, needed a way to release the nervous energy that had been building inside him since remembering his mother.

"You're on!"

"Oh this ought to be good," Blue's voice dripped with sarcasm. Green giggled.

"And who are you?" Yellow asked before the two eager trainers could pull out their Pokemon.

"My name is Doug," the boy stated proudly. "I am determined to become the first Bug-type Gym Leader in all of Kanto!"

"Oh yeah?"

Red for some reason almost felt threatened by Doug's sense of ambition. He was no older than any of them and here he was already planning on becoming a Gym Leader. Only one in a million trainers actually became Gym Leaders, first, they had to collect at least eight Gym Badges then win at least an official Pokemon tourney. While that technically qualified them to be able to be Gym Leaders almost no one had ever become a Gym Leader without being a true Pokemon Champion, winner of Kanto's greatest tournament, the Indigo League. How could Doug believe in himself that much?

"I'm going to be the best Pokemon Ranger in all of Kanto," Red asserted, though once he said it out loud it didn't seem like much of a dream, not like Doug's.

"How about a two on two?" Doug asked, pulling out a pair of Pokeballs.

"Sounds good to me," Red agreed, reaching immediately for Charmander's Pokeball. There was no way he was going to fight this big dreamer without his best Pokemon. Doug grabbed a Pokeball that he had attached to his belt and let it fly. There was a flash of light and then standing before them was a green little bug-type Pokemon, Caterpie. Blue snorted, some of the knots in Red's stomach loosened.

"Charmander, go!" Red shouted. Charmander did his best roar as he emerged from his Pokeball, Red grinned widely.

"Tackle!" Doug shouted.

Red was shocked by the speed at which the foot-long Caterpie attacked. It leaped right at Charmander's stomach.

Charmander spewed a quick stream of fire, but it was too late, Caterpie was already colliding with him. Another shock as Red watched Charmander double over at the impact, whining, the fire fading from his maw. There was no way that little worm-thing was that strong. It was then Red became determined to get a Caterpie for himself.

"Show him what you've got, Charmander," Red shouted. The lizard-like Pokemon growled deeply. Caterpie fell back slightly. It was all the chance Charmander needed he swiped his claws in a furious Scratch move. The Caterpie cried out in surprise and pain and went tumbling away.

"Way to go Charmander!" Red was so emotional he almost choked on his words. That surprised him. He was surprised yet again to see Caterpie recover its little pod feet and squeak angrily at Charmander. The scratches that Charmander had made were visible on its right side. A little green ichor was oozing from the wounds.

"Don't let him recover!" Red shouted just as Doug shouted at his Caterpie. "Don't give him time to rest!"

Caterpie launched some sort of string-like substance from its odd little mouth. Charmander opened and fired another blast. The string lit up in flame and Charmander's ember blast collided with the already injured bug Pokemon. The singed Caterpie leaped up again and raised its strange red antennae high.

"Oh, Caterpie, no!" Doug called out. It was too late.

A horrific stench emanated from the little Pokemon, it was something like a mix between skunk odor and rotten eggs. Red gagged. So did everyone else. Charmander shook his head at the incredible stench. He sneezed, trying to rid himself of the smell. It didn't work. In frustration, Charmander unleashed a massive wave of fire at the determined little Caterpie. Yellow, Blue, and Green ran away from the stench, grabbing at their noses in desperation. Only the two young combatants remained near the two battling Pokemon.

This time Charmander's Ember blast worked. The Caterpie wavered then fell over, obviously unable to battle anymore. In a flash of light, Doug recalled his exhausted Pokemon, but just as fast the Caterpie was replaced with another bug-type Pokemon, a Weedle. It was another larva-type Pokemon like Caterpie but this one had a sharp two-inch stinger on its head, and another tipped its tail.

"Watch out for its stingers!" Red called out, his heart rate racing with the sight of poisonous weapons.

Hearing the nervousness in Red's voice Doug seemed to regain some of his confidence, the hints of a smile played across his face. "Weedle, slow him down so you can sting him."

The Weedle unleashed a sticky string shot just like the Caterpie had. "Don't let it touch you, Charmander!"

Charmander, still catching his breathing from his last Ember, dodged to the side. Too slowly. The string connected with his leg and soon began to spread across his body. With an alarmed cry, Charmander let loose a weak Ember, burning Weedle's String Shot but barely making the bug Pokemon flinch. His body was still covered in the sticky substance and his movements were impaired.

"Weedle!" Doug sounded almost as confident as he had before they battled. "Poison Sting, now!"

The Weedle launched itself at Charmander. It was even faster than the Caterpie had been. Charmander tried to dodge the attack but his movements were just too slow. The Weedle's stinger gleamed angrily, Charmander cried out in pain.

"Charmander!" Red gasped. "That's it, I'm taking you out. Return!" The Charmander's shoulder was already swelling up where Weedle had punctured it. Red would take care of him but first, he had to finish his battle. "Pidgey!"

Red's Pidgey appeared with a great gust of wind. "Kaw!" it's rough cry filled the clearing. Thanks to Pidgey's wind gust the stench of Caterpie began to fade and the spectators slowly began to return to Red's side.

"Weedle, don't be intimidated just because he is a flying type!" Doug instructed. "Hit him with a String Shot!"

Pidgey had other ideas. It flapped its wings strongly, sending the String Shot right back in Weedle's face. Pidgey dove. Weedle jumped aside but Pidgey swung its taloned feet wide and scratched the Weedle's retreating back in a Quick Attack. Weedle made a funny noise and tumbled end over end.

"Weedle, get back up, quick!" Doug called, losing his grin.

"Don't let him recover!" Red ordered. "Gust!"

Pidgey cried in agreement and began flapping its wings so hard that a mighty wind lifted the bug Pokemon right off the ground just as it had regained its pod feet. In alarm, the Weedle tried to fire another String Shot but it just blew right back in its face.

"Weedle!" Doug cried in alarm. Finally, the larva tumbled out of Pidgey's gust and fell to the forest floor. Weedle squirmed to right itself but Red's Pidgey was just too fast and dove in for a Tackle. The Weedle made a strange sound and fell again to the forest floor, this time he didn't get back up.

"Match, over!" Blue pronounced loudly. Though from the tone of his voice he wasn't happy with the final results. "Red has won."

"Weedle are you alright?" Doug raced to his Pokemon's side. The Weedle lifted its head and made a cooing type of noise to reassure his trainer.

"Is he okay?" Red asked. He pulled Charmander's ball back out and let his Pokemon free. But Charmander wasn't looking well, the swelling was already much worse. The wound was over an inch wide and was taking over all of Charmander's upper arm.

"You better hit him with an antidote," Doug nodded at Charmander.

"I . . . I don't have an antidote," Red looked worriedly at his now quiet Pokemon. Charmander curled himself into a ball, his fiery ended tail protecting his poisoned wound.

"I do," Blue said.

"Can I have it to heal Charmander?" Red asked.

"Yeah, that'll be twenty dollars," Blue held out an empty hand. "I paid that much for it."

"Blue," Red sounded worried. "You know very well that I left home without hardly any money since my mom didn't want me to go. I'll owe you, I can pay you back after I win an official match. Please, I gotta make Charmander better."

"Then you'll pay twenty dollars."

"Come on."

In response, Blue simply motioned with his hand for Red to pay up.

"You can have one of mine," Doug handed an antidote to Red. "I'd definitely get some as soon as you can afford them."

"Thank you," Red immediately started spraying Charmander's wound with the antidote. He shot Blue a dirty look. Blue just rolled his eyes.

Almost immediately Charmander began to look better. His wound had grown purple and the swelling had started to stretch his skin. Now the poisonous wound slowly went down, almost like a controlled deflation of a balloon. The color changed from an angry purple to an irritated red on its way to becoming a healthy orange.

"You're such a jerk," Yellow growled at Blue as she brushed by him to join Red at Charmander's side.

"Nobody that gets life handed to them ever learns anything," Blue retorted. "He'll never learn to be a good trainer if people just keep giving him stuff and helping him and solving all of his problems for him."

Green nodded in agreement.

"It looks to me like he already is a good trainer," Doug spoke up, to everyone's surprise. "He beat me and his second Pokemon didn't even get touched."

"He's just lucky he captured such a strong Pidgey."

Doug looked up at Blue for a moment then shook his head and went back to tending to his Weedle with a Potion. Blue glared at him before turning and joining Green's side a few paces away.

"You're the grandson of Professor Oak, and your parents are rich," Yellow retorted. "Talk about getting life handed to you."

Blue heard her but he pretended he hadn't.

"If he's Professor Oak's grandson does that mean you guys are from Pallet Town?" Doug asked.

"Yeah," Red affirmed but Yellow shook her head negatively. "Well, at least most of us are. Where did you start your journey?"

"Viridian City," Doug blushed. "I haven't gotten very far."

"Well, in some ways you've gotten a lot further than me," Yellow volunteered. "I live about a mile Northeast of here." She pointed in the general direction of her cabin. Doug looked a little less embarrassed and Yellow smiled.

"I think I am going to take my Pokemon back to the Poke-Center," Doug said. "You exhausted them, Red."

"My Charmander is pretty wiped out too," Red shook Doug's hand as the bug trainer gathered his things and started back down the path to Viridian City. They waved at him one more time before rejoining Blue and Green further up the trail.

"You made friends fast," Blue commented as they resumed their journey. From the tone of his voice, it obviously wasn't meant as a compliment.

"I think Doug's a cool guy."

"You would."

"I like that he wants to be the first Kanto Bug-type Gym Leader," Red countered.

"It's stupid. Most Bug-types are too weak for any decent Gym Leader to use, there's a reason there hasn't been a Bug Gym Leader."

"Any dream that isn't yours is stupid to you."

"Not when they're reasonable. As I said, there's a reason there hasn't been a Bug Gym Leader. It's unreasonable just like yours."

"My dad was a great Ranger, what makes my dream so impossible?"

"Your dad was raised with Pokemon, they were around him all the time his whole life and he loved them. You, you don't even know who all the Gym Leaders are. You have barely even seen a wild Pokemon until now. No, your dream is definitely unrealistic, you should be grateful if you get to be a Ranger at all. You'll never be the best."

"You think you know me, but you don't know a thing about me," Red said angrily, his face beginning to match his name. "You'll see, I'll be a great Pokemon Ranger, just like my dad."

Blue shook his head but declined to argue and fell silent as the sounds of the forest grew louder around them and shadows deepened.

The forest was growing thicker, and if it weren't for Route 2 being cut through it Red doubted he could have made his way through the forest. It was no wonder this place was supposedly thick with wild Pokemon, there were all sorts of places for them to live and hide. Berries grew abundantly wherever Red could see. Red shuddered instinctively at the sound of rustling coming from just a few feet away from the trail. Safety was the only reason he still put up with Blue's jerkface.

Red knew that if he were alone, especially with Charmander in his current condition, there was little chance he could survive. The dark thoughts inside his head made the world around him seem all the more frightening. A wild Pokemon could leap out at them at any time, a menacing bullying trainer could emerge and beat them before taking whatever he wanted. Then there was Team Rocket to consider. Red tried to ignore the knot that clenched tightly in his belly whenever he thought of Team Rocket. They had almost taken away his future before he'd even had a chance to live it.

It wasn't long before something happened. "I challenge you!" the voice wasn't that dissimilar to Doug's. Another young trainer emerged from the bushes. He kinda looked like Doug too.

"I, Bug Catcher Sammy, challenge one of you to a duel!"

"Have fun, Red," Green said dryly.

"I'm letting Charmander rest," Red shook his head. "Someone else will have to answer his challenge."

"Fiiiiine," Green rolled her eyes but withdrew a Pokeball from the belt at her waist. "You okay with that, Sammy?" The way she drew out her words was obviously mocking his juvenile name, talking to him like she would someone ten years her junior.

"If you think you can handle me," Sammy puffed out his scrawny chest. Red hoped Sammy would win. Green laughed.

"You shouldn't have told me you were a bug catcher," Green told him. "Now I know just the Pokemon to use." In a flash, her fierce-looking Spearow emerged from its Pokeball. It spread its wings and screeched like an eagle.

"How clever of you," Sammy said, pulling out a Pokeball. Red couldn't tell if Sammy was mocking or serious. In another flash of light, Sammy revealed his first Pokemon, a male Nidoran. "Just because I am a Bug Catcher doesn't mean I can't have other types of Pokemon."

The look on Green's face was one of genuine surprise. Sammy's Nidoran male was a fierce-looking purple Pokemon. It was covered with poisonous barbs and horns, most of its body was covered by armored plates, its gleaming eyes stared out fiercely from underneath almost bat-like ears that were also covered in thick plating.

"Poison Sting!" Sammy cried out.

"Get out of there, Spearow!" Green cried. With a fluttering of wings, Spearow launched itself into the air. The Nidoran skidded to a halt right where Spearow had been standing, its head down and ready for a sting.

"Don't let him recover!" Green shouted to Spearow. The fierce bird-like Pokemon screeched in reply and let loose with a gust attack. The Nidoran stamped in the ground and weathered the gust attack easily.

"Horn attack!" Sammy shouted. To everyone's surprise, the Nidoran launched a horn from its body like a missile. Caught by surprise Green's Spearow barely dove to the side in time, the flying horn clipped a few feathers from its tail.

"Are you gonna take that from him?" Green shouted angrily. "Peck him!"

The Spearow wheeled in mid-air and dove for the Nidoran who was surprised by the maneuver. Because they were covered in poisonous barbs and horns it was rare that Nidoran were ever attacked with a physical attack. Spearow pecked the Nidoran hard as it flew over him. The Poison-type Pokemon cried out in shock and pain.

Spearow wheeled about and dove down for another Peck attack. In an unexpected maneuver, Nidoran spun and kicked up its hind legs, clobbering Spearow right in the face. The Spearow tumbled and fell from the air.

"Don't give up!" Green called out in desperation, she didn't know what else to tell it to do. She needn't have worried. Spearow launched itself right back into the air and dove for Nidoran once more. The Nidoran spun so it could kick its opponent again but at the last second Spearow dove to the left and hit Nidoran with a succession of furious pecks that knocked the armored Pokemon tumbling across the grass.

"Yes!" Green shouted out.

The battle wasn't over yet. Nidoran jumped back onto its feet. It made a growling sound and let loose with another flying Horn Attack. Again Spearow barely dodged it. Nidoran stood on its hind legs to get a better shot at Spearow.

"Gust, now!" Green shrieked excitedly. Spearow was quick to follow orders, a blast of wind flew from the Spearow and blasted the Nidoran, sending it tumbling end over end into the trunk of a tree. The Nidoran fell to the ground in a heap.

"Nidoran!" Sammy ran over to his Pokemon.

"Is that it or do you have another?" Green demanded in a tone that caught everyone off guard. She sounded fierce.

"I have another but I'm not battling you anymore!" Sammy said as he pulled out a potion and started spraying his Nidoran.

"He fought well," Red told Sammy as he came over to see the Nidoran.

"Thanks," Sammy sounded sulky.

"If I can ask, where did you get him?"

"I caught him, right here in the forest. There aren't very many, especially compared to all the bug Pokemon, so I got really lucky."

"Wow!" Red said. "I'll say you did. So did we."

"Red, let's get going before it gets dark out," Blue barked. Red turned and joined his little group. He was surprised to find that so many trainers were confident enough to be out exploring on their own.

"None of those loners are gonna make it far," Blue said as if reading Red's mind.

"The tradition in Viridian City is for them to go into the forest alone on their first day then go back to town. On the second day, they start forming their groups and leaving, some don't leave for a week."

"So those were the kids that were too scared to leave on the second day? It figures, no wonder you won, Red." Blue laughed at his own joke. No one else did, not even Green.

"Aha!" a voice suddenly came from the bushes. "So you think you are better than us? Prepare to prove it in battle!"

Yet another teen their same age, this one wearing a headband, emerged from the thick foliage. Blue rolled his eyes and turned to Green.

"Don't look at me, I just had a battle."

"I'm still letting Charmander rest," Red refused.

"Fine," Blue groaned but grabbed a Pokeball. "If you wanna end your day with a loss then it's my pleasure to provide one for you."

"We'll see!" the teen grabbed a Pokeball of his own.

Several hours and many many Pokemon battles later the four exhausted trainers stumbled along Route 2. The forest had shown no signs of thinning. While the sun had not yet set the sky had darkened and the shadows of the forest had grown longer and deeper. If it had been difficult to see for any distance before it was now impossible.

"Let's make camp," Green groaned.

"Yeah," Red agreed. "I'm exhausted."

"You only beat two trainers, the rest of us had to battle four or more," Blue snapped.

"I can't believe none of us lost, not even once," Yellow tried to stop the argument before it began.

"Speak for yourself," Blue said self-assuredly.

"I think I see a clear spot over there," Green pointed, for once even she was too tired to argue. They followed her to a little area just off the beaten path and immediately set to work setting up camp.

Red kicked aside a few fallen branches and small stones that stood in his way and pulled out his tent. He staked it to the moist loamy soil underneath and within a minute he had his individual tent set up and turned to Blue already working on making a pit for a fire. A circle of rocks had already been formed. Red and Blue tossed a few sticks and larger pieces of wood into the circle of stone.

"Can that Charmander of yours conjure up flames or is it too exhausted?" Blue asked irritably.

"Charmander, make us a fire, please," Red called out his fire-type Pokemon. Charmander, though obviously tired, looked quite recovered from his ordeal earlier in the day. With little effort, the Pokemon lit up their little pile of wood. "Thanks, buddy."

"Mmmmm, I love a good fire on a dark and chilly night," Yellow smiled as she joined them next to the blaze.

"I love a good batch on a dark and chilly night," Green groaned. "Does anyone know how much longer until we're out of these darn woods?"

"If we make good time we should be able to get out of Viridian Forest by tomorrow evening," Blue said.

"I hope so. I can't wait to see civilization again."

"Are you sure you want to be a Pokemon trainer?" Red asked Green. "Half the fun of it is all the camping out."

"I will be a breeder someday and I can leave all the camping to you crazy trainers," Green advised.

A long loud strange cry echoed through the forest. Red looked up futilely into the dark night sky, what little of it he could see of it through the thick branches overhead. A few stars filtered through but he could see nothing else.

"Ugh." Green shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, despite the warm fire. "Just another reason I hate camping."

"I love it!" Yellow declared. "That reminded me of a story my dad used to tell me whenever I heard a Pokemon he couldn't identify."

"He must have told that story a lot," Red heard Blue mumble under his breath, Red shot him a dirty look. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Yellow had noticed.

"Once the world was nothing more than solid rock, there were no oceans, no rivers and no lakes, just some ice at the North and South poles. No humans and no Pokemon lived here. Then, three titans of the elements appeared. They were three great birds, with wingspans that dwarf all other Pokemon. Articuno, the titan of ice, spread its great wings and flew over the world causing the first blizzard, it used its powerful breath to breathe ice all over the world. Then it found a great mountain and rested. Next, Moltres, the titan of fire, flapped its great wings and flew over the Earth, breathing an inferno over the ice. The ice melted and formed the first oceans, lakes, and rivers. What were once mountains became islands. Moltres also found itself a mountain and rested. It was then that Zapdos rose up on his wings and flew over the reborn earth. Lightning danced from his body and struck the newly formed oceans and the newly formed continents. Thus the ocean and land gained new life, and the ocean currents were set into motion. Then Zapdos too found itself a mountain and rested. From time to time the titans awaken to observe their creation and see what has become of it. When you hear a strange cry that echoes loudly in your ears, look up, for it may be one of the titans."

"Cool," Red breathed.

"So if there was no life then where did these three titans come from?" Blue asked.

"Some say that they were brought here by an even more powerful Pokemon to give the world life. Some say that he created them after finding our world. But really it is just a legend and nobody even knows if it has any truth to it." Yellow shrugged.

"That didn't make me feel any better," Green added. "But it was a pretty good distraction."

"I'd never heard that before," Red added, tossing another sour look in Blue's direction. "Do people believe that?"

"Some people-" Yellow began.

"Only idiots believe that stuff," Blue interrupted.

"My dad told me that people used to tell each other legends to try and explain a big scary world that they didn't understand yet." Yellow continued on as if Blue hadn't said a word. "Those birds might actually have existed, but I'm sure that the story didn't happen as there was no one to witness it."

"Do you think there are Pokemon we don't know about?" Red asked.

"I'm sure of it," Yellow said. Blue rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"It would be amazing to discover a new Pokemon!"

"Who knows, maybe you will someday," Yellow smiled.

"Whatever," Blue groaned. "I'm going to bed, you two have fun staring into each other's eyes."

Red opened his mouth to retort but Yellow just shook her head and he fell silent. It wasn't long before they were all asleep.


End file.
